Ten Swords
by Plasma Knight
Summary: What would become of the 6,147 players of Sword Art Online had Kirito fallen to Heathcliff on the 75th floor? Obviously, they would need to find the courage to press on, even without him. If a single sword can get you anywhere in Castle Aincrad, how far can ten go? For there were indeed ten unique skills. This is the tale of those ten swords.
1. Prologue: Execution

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

 _From the start, there was no way anybody could call Heathcliff's – no, Kayaba Akihiko's – invitation to a duel with Kirito a fair challenge. Kirito was a easily the second strongest players in the game, but he was facing_ the _strongest, and the creator of the very system Kirito was relying on. What chance did he have? Kirito was burdened with our hopes, our expectations; win and we go free, die and we're deprived a hero. Kayaba didn't have that burden. He could fight with his mind at ease._

 _It seemed to the rest of us that Kirito's dual-wielding had made him invincible, but we'd all forgotten that Kayaba was dual-wielding as well. His shield was a weapon. Mankind has known for centuries that few things ruin a person's day like a flat, heavy sheet of metal crashing into their face. Kirito's only "advantage" was lost before the fight even began._

 _Kirito never stood a chance. I realized that within seconds, and Kayaba must have realized it before the fight even began. Kirito must have too... His final words could be seen as nothing but a goodbye...  
_

 _Kayaba hadn't invited Kirito to a duel._

 _It was a public execution._

* * *

A little over two dozen players were pinned to the ground of the innermost room of the seventy-fifth floor labyrinth. Razler was one of the many, watching helpless as the two men squared off against one another. His guildmates, his sister - they were all held to the ground as well by the system's paralysis, just as helpless to move or interfere as he as. There they were, the "Black Swordsman" in his longcoat, both swords in hand, and the "Paladin" in his red plate armor, his great sword and shield held ready.

Razler's heart pounded as he watched them stare at one another. This fight would decide everything...

"KIRITO!"

Asuna's scream shook Razler to his core. Somehow, it told him that this was the last time he'd ever see Kirito alive. As if Asuna's final cry was the signal the two had been waiting for, they launched at one another. Like Razler predicted, like he'd seen dozens of times, Kirito went in on Kayaba like a man on the verge of losing control. He was a whirl of swords, one striking after the other in a furious dance that few could follow.

But Kayaba could follow it.

Kirito's first blow was parried, his second blocked by the shield. As was the next, and the next. Razler could only watch helplessly, his body forced down by the paralysis effect, as Kirito continued with his strategy that wasn't working. The extreme weight of Kirito's blades made his swings go wide after a block; momentum was carrying them too far. Razler had heard a time or two that Kirito had a penchant for heavy swords, and it confused him. He'd tried numerous weapon types in his time in Aincrad, and he preferred his edged weapons light and his blunt weapons heavy. Kirito's style relied on speed, not force. He wasn't swinging hammers...

And sure enough, Kirito's guard eventually went wide, and Kayaba's blade moved in for the kill. Breath caught in Razler's throat, but Kirito ducked the blow and leaped behind Kayaba. Razler's heart missed a beat – this had to be it! – but no, Kayaba turned and blocked Kirito's strike in a single motion. The extreme effort involved in getting behind his foe had cost Kirito the opportunity for a more elegant strike, leaving his attack easily blocked even for a surprised enemy.

Razler watched on, his breath ragged. It couldn't end like this! Was this really how it was going to be!? He still owed Kirito, but he couldn't do anything but watch him face his death? Teeth gnashed, he struggled to move, he strained with every fiber of his being to at least get onto his knees.

But he couldn't do it...

The missed attack seemed to be the turning point. Kirito's face contorted in anger, an his attacks became even more furious. He was a hurricane of steel, attacking relentlessly, but his attacks hit nothing but Kayaba's shield. Razler's heart beat more furiously in his chest, and his eyes widened. Kirito was _losing it_ , he was resorting to his usual tactic of attacking relentlessly, heedless of the risk he was putting himself in. That worked on _monsters_ , but Kayaba could think...

Who could expect a sixteen year-old _not_ to buckle under the pressure he was facing?

Kayaba struck suddenly, and Hinoka gasped. So lost was he in his attacks, Kirito barely avoided it in time. The blade grazed his cheek, leaving a cut of red hexagons on his virtual skn. Razler breathed a sigh of relief, but he realized a second later that Kirito hadn't narrowly avoided disaster; he'd been goaded into it. Kirito's blades glowed blue, the sure sign that he'd activated a sword skill.

"NO!" Razler screamed, though pointlessly. There was no stopping it now. The system was a cold thing.

Kirito launched into "The Eclipse", a dizzying twenty-seven-strike combo. This was a skill that could slay dozens of normal enemies at once by overwhelming them with a storm of strikes that would overpower their simple defenses. But not Kayaba. The "Strongest Man" stood firm and stoically blocked every blow with his kite shield, the trusted instrument that had seen him through so much. His expression was that of total focus, with not even the smallest sign of strain. There was no way he'd take even a single blow...

Razler squeezed his eyes tight, knowing what the outcome was going to be. He'd seen Kirito use the combo a few times in the battle with The Skull Reaper, but he always announced his intentions beforehand so somebody else would be ready to switch in with him once it was over. That skill was powerful, but it left him immobile and vulnerable for two or three crucial seconds when it ended. Kayaba would know it. There was no way he wouldn't.

A cry of pain, Asuna screaming a wordless howl of remorse.

Razler forced himself to look at the fight, and his gut tightened. Kayaba's sword was plunged deep into Kirito's torso, up halfway to the hilt. Kirito's health bar – which had been in the yellow since the fight began – rapidly dwindled down to nothing.

"Everyone... sorry..."

Kirito's body shattered into hexagons.

Klein screamed something.

Asuna just screamed.

Some of the other players were shouting things. Razler couldn't hear any of it properly; he could only really hear a buzzing sound in his ears.

"A shame, I expected that to go on longer."

The buzz cleared. Razler shook his head, and glared at his enemy.

Kayaba. The "Living Legend", had sheathed his sword. He simply stood in the middle of the room, gazing at the spot where Kirito last stood.

"Either way, the rest of you are free to continue to the next floor. The Skull Reaper is bested and floor seventy-five is cleared."

"Bastard! You think we'll let you leave!" cried Klein.

The swordsman was struggling to get to his feet, but Kayaba's paralysis still held him in place. Razler simply clenched his fist and stared at the ground. This wasn't like in reality, where a strong enough force of will might allow one to rise. This was an online game, and to the system, being paralyzed meant you couldn't move, no matter how hard you struggled. Razler squeezed his eyes tight. Games were cold things, they were things of numbers. It didn't matter how hard a human struggled, if they didn't have the numbers, they wouldn't win.

"I will await the rest of you on the one-hundredth floor, as planned," Kayaba continued. "With the strength you have, I trust that you will reach me in time. Best of luck."

He gave a small gasp and raised his right hand, summoning a system menu. He pressed a few buttons, bringing up smaller menus, until all closed. "Asuna, as I promised Kirito, I will not allow you to take your own life for a time."

Everyone's heads turned toward Asuna. A purple window floated above her, reading, "Changed to Immortal Object".

"You won't be able to take lethal damage like this, but I've restricted your movements away from areas where enemies spawn. I'll reverse both at midnight, two weeks from now. That should give you time to grieve and think things through."

Asuna simply stared at something that only she could see, her hair tousled and her face streaked by tears. Razler couldn't tear his eyes away. At first she had struck him as fierce and hard-headed. Over time she'd calmed down, but she never lost her fiery core. But now, it almost looked like that fire had gone out.

"I believe you'll lead the Knights of the Blood admirably in my absence. You are, after all, the guildmaster now."

Razler turned to look back at Kayaba, who was gazing at her with a warm look in his eyes. Was it pride? Could this man even feel ordinary human emotion!?

Kayaba pulled a teleport crystal forth from his armor, and opened the menu once more. He pressed a few buttons, until a final, small, window appeared at the top of the others. His finger hovered over one of the two buttons on that window. "In RPGs, you know how you will often be given an overpowered ally during the early portions of the game, and then that ally will become less useful as time goes on?" Kayaba asked, his gaze fixed on the window in front of him.

"Think of me like that. Even without me, you can climb the remaining twenty-five floors. I'm certain that we'll meet again."

He pressed the button, and the numbness left Razler's limbs. Instantly, some of the players were on their feet, their weapons trained on Kayaba. Razler saw Klein and Agil among the group. Samson, Lyle, and Elise from his own guild were charging - all staring ahead at Kayaba with more hate on their faces than he'd ever remembered.

But Asuna was still on the ground, crying silently.

"SUMMER KNIGHTS, STAND DOWN!" cried Seriyuha.

Razler's guildmaster was rising slowly to her feet, her face worn and tired from the effort.

The three slowed to a stop. Elise's axe hit the ground with a thud, while Lyle turned and screamed protestations at Seriyuha.

The other players neared Kayaba, but he simply raised his crystal and cried, "Teleport, Ruby Palace!"

He disappeared in a burst of light, like all who teleported did. The players that had moved to attack him slowed to a stop, each screaming insults to the sky.

Razler moved to a sitting position, the events of the last few minutes whirling about in his mind. How had this gone on so long? Surely the administrator of Sword Art Online couldn't live a double-life as an active clearer. Wouldn't someone in the Knights of the Blood have noticed strange behavior from him? Why had Kirito accepted Kayaba's challenge?

Nothing made sense...

Razler simply shook his head as warm, strong hands grasped his shoulder. They were shaking just as badly as he was. His sister... Who else would be so close now...

"D-don't worry, w-we'll get through this. I promise..." said Hinoka.

Seriyuha was finally on her feet, calling the rest of the guild to her side. "We're going back to headquarters," she said. "Guild meeting, _now_."

Razler nodded. She _normally_ called for meetings after raids, good or bad. There was no way she wouldn't call for one _now.._. Razler plodded along behind his guildmaster, Hinoka's hands still on his shoulders. He looked around at the others as he walked past them. Klein's guildmates were trying to offer him words of consolation, but the red swordsman stood there quietly, staring at the ground. The Knights of the Blood members were either speaking quietly among themselves or trying to urge Asuna to her feet. Asuna herself was still on her hands and knees, her head bowed and her face tear-stained. Most of the other players were simply walking slowly toward the stairway leading to the seventy-sixth floor.

At the front of them all was Seriyuha, her long black hair billowing behind her. It was as if nothing had happened and she merely wanted to discuss tactics before planning the explorations of a new floor. Some strength flowed back into Razler as he looked at her, striding onward without fear, unshakable as ever.

With Seriyuha, it was as if things simply didn't touch her, no matter how bad they were. Hinoka's hands were still on his shoulder. His sister was with him, as always.

The two women were still unshakable pillars in his life, just as they'd been since that first day. That much wouldn't ever change.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this brief prologue/teaser for my first new fanfiction in a _long_ time! Updates will be on the first of every month. Please take some time out to review, _**all** _constructive criticism is very welcome, and thanks for taking the time to read!


	2. The Official SAO Tutorial

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who's followed this story so far! I'm hoping this chapter gives you a bit more to get into :)

To answer a question in a review from last chapter, I fully understand that Dual Wielding and Holy Sword _was_ and is associated with Kirito and Heathcliff, respectively. I've already accounted for that, but thank you for bringing up your concerns. I urge all readers to question me on anything you think doesn't gel either with SAO itself or with the fanfiction's own continuity.

* * *

 _When I think back to all of the people I knew during my time trapped in Sword Art Online, the two who stand out the most in my mind are my older sister, Misaki Chigusa, known by her player name Hinoka, and my guildmaster, Seriyuha. Without these two women, I wouldn't have survived my time in Castle Aincrad._

 _I came into the game expecting to see Chigusa, but meeting with Seriyuha was a chance encounter. It was the first of many.  
_

* * *

"Hi there, time for this week's MMO stream! You just saw a promo of today's featured game, and this is what last week's launch day looked like!"

The shot changed to a view of dozens of people waiting in a line that stretched for yards before disappearing out of sight. Everyone was jostling and fidgeting, their excitement palpable through the screen. Shirou broke into a smile as he watched them.

"Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for? It's Sword Art Online!"

The cute-voiced host continued for several minutes onward, talking about the glowing praise the game's beta testers had given it, and how the game sold out online within seconds. Only ten-thousand copies were sold for the game's launch. A small number, to say the least.

Shirou swiveled his desk chair to look at the birthday present he'd received the day before - sent by his older sister. He hadn't known what to expect when he opened the box, but what lay inside was a bulky grey helmet, "NerveGear", with a game case lying under it and a note taped to its top:

"Happy Birthday, Little Brother! See you in Castle Aincrad! (Look for Hinoka!)

-Big Sis"

Razler smiled as he re-read the note. "Hinoka", the Hoshidan princess. He could picture his freckled and bespectacled older sister trying to hold a naginata and struggling under the weight.

The game was, of course, Sword Art Online, the first Vitual-Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Game in the world. Chigusa had mentioned it a few times in emails over the last few months. Well, "mentioned" was underselling the gushing she was doing. She described the game as an alternate real world, with countless possibilities laying out before you. What _Shirou_ had seen of it left him wondering what all the hype was about; it looked like any other sword-and-sorcery fantasy world to him, and MMO's were a genre of the past.

Then again, it was a _virtual_ world. That had to account for something. And Chigusa knew her video games.

Either way, she was waiting for him, and she had mentioned going through a lot of trouble to get him a copy of the game. The least he could do was try it out.

Besides... He was excited to see her again, even if it wouldn't be face-to-face.

Shirou shut off the news stream he'd been watching and lay down on his bed, the NerveGear on his head and strapped in place. The device felt uncomfortably heavy; hopefully they'd miniaturize it in later releases. The modem hummed and quickly went to work. His heart beat a little faster.

"Link start!" he said.

Blackness consumed his field of view, and all feeling left his body. He was nervous that he'd get stuck in that black void for a moment, until the screen turned white, different-colored cylinders rushing past his perspective. Multiple system checks began rapidly appearing in front of him before lining up on the right side of his view.

" _Vision, okay._ "

" _Hearing, okay._ "

The system was linking with his nervous system. Shirou had almost wanted to throw the device away when he learned it worked by hijacking the brain's nerves, but Chigusa _swore_ to him that the NerveGear was perfectly safe. She would know. It wouldn't surprise him if she'd broken into the coding of hers the first day she had it.

And anyways, the device was sure to have ridiculous oversight from the government while it was in development.

The Sword Art Online login screen appeared before him, showing a backdrop of the game's environment. The game's title dominated the top half of Shirou's view, while a virtual keyboard took up the lower.

Shirou quickly punched in the login name and password he'd registered the night before, and came upon the character creation menu. The game had no races beyond humans, but he was given an offering of various class options that would alter his starting weapon, stats, and equipment. His gaze fell upon options such as "Lancer", "Monk", or "Axeman", but he eventually settled for "Swordsman". Without playing the game, he had no idea what might be more useful than the others, so a fairly generic option seemed safest.

Next came the avatar creation menu. To his surprise, he found himself looking at a base male avatar without even having selected his character's gender. He stared at the screen for a moment, puzzled. Surely SAO didn't only offer male avatars? He'd have to ask Chigusa about that when he got into the game - he must have skipped an option by accident somewhere. He hadn't bothered to crossplay anyways; Chigusa would tease him endlessly if he did.

He couldn't change his starting gear – rather plain leather clothing – though he could alter the color palette. After trying out a few options, he settled for dark red on black. Next he designed his character – slightly taller than his real self, with spikier hair and a stern, sharp facial structure. Something to make himself look more like a badass. He smiled, unable to help himself. Satisfied, Shirou hit the accept option, and blue shafts of light began to fly past him, obscuring his vision, before shattering and flying upward like scattering flower petals.

"Welcome to Castle Aincrad."

And that was it.

He found himself standing in a sunny town square, surrounded by people. He could move around, just as in real life. Everything felt normal enough. He looked down at his hands – they weren't his, they were those of the avatar he'd chosen, but he could move them just the same.

"Woah," he whispered to himself. Seeing hands that weren't his own open and close as he flexed his muscles was surreal.

He moved around uncertainly, not fully trusting these virtual legs just yet, but found his steps just as fluid and natural as in the real world. Surely muscle memory would see him falter around on legs that were longer than his own, but nothing of the sort happened.

Whoever designed the system was a _genius_.

A little more confident in his movements, he began looking around. He was standing within a medieval town square, surrounded by other people – players, obviously – all dressed similarly to him. Behind him lay a fountain, the water sparkling in the bright sunlight, and beyond _that_ was a vast black castle. He spun about slowly, taking as much in as he could - or rather, searching for faults, for things to spark his conservation of disbelief.

He couldn't find anything. No obviously re-used assets, no mis-rendered textures.

There he was, delivered right into every fantasy setting he'd ever seen. He wouldn't have known better if he hadn't put the NerveGear on himself. His heartbeat sped up as he realized why Chigusa had hyped the game up so much.

 _Chigusa_!

He looked around hopelessly at the crowd of players. How was he supposed to recognize Chigusa from all of them? Everyone was a stranger to him, and she'd look like any other in-game avatar. Around half the players were girls - surely she'd pick a girl? Still, he couldn't just approach every girl he saw until he chanced upon the right person. What if Chigusa wasn't even here waiting for him? What if she'd gone into another part of town or out into the field? He began fiddling around with the menu options, searching for private messaging, when his eyes fell upon a female player standing right across the square, arms crossed and foot tapping.

Red on white, a spear in hand, short red hair.

He broke into a smile. It had to be her.

Shirou approached the girl, one hand raised.

"Hey," he said slowly, earning a glare from the girl, "Chiusa is that-"

"Shirou!"

Shirou quickly found his head buried in "Hinoka's" voluminous chest – a feature she didn't possess in real life – and felt his cheeks burn.

"How have you been Shirou? Were you looking for me long? Did you have any problems installing the game or signing up?"

Shirou gently pushed Chigusa away, smiling uncontrollably. "I've been great! I didn't have any problems, your instructions were easy to follow," he said quickly.

He looked at Chigusa, taking in her avatar a little more. Her face was smoother than the real Chigusa's, and she was definitely taller and longer-limbed. She was actually taller than Shirou despite him being taller than his real self - and about the same height as her the last time he checked. Hinoka didn't look anything like the real Chigusa, save for her smile. He could see a little of his sister in Hinoka's smirk. And he couldn't help but smile back. He hadn't seen her in so long...

"You look pretty cute Shirou," Chigusa said, bringing his attention back to her. "It's so nice to see you again, it's been too long."

Shirou thought he saw her eyes getting wet, but she stepped back and rubbed them before he could be sure. So you could even cry in this game?

With that she shrugged and spun on her heel, and then began walking with purpose away from the square.

"Okay! It's time to start the adventure!" she called back to him.

"Nice," he said, grinning, "where're we going?"

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "Combat training!"

 _That_ had to be good!

Chigusing leading the way, Shirou's gaze was drawn this way and that by the fantasy world surrounding him. He could see the cracks in the roads, the slight warping of the metal lampposts. He could _feel_ the warmth of the virtual sun on his skin, and he was fairly sure that the stone walls would seem perfectly natural to his touch.

How had the designers _managed_ this?

"So what's combat like in SAO?" he asked.

"It's different from other MMO's. Super cool, but a bit tricky," said Chigusa. She turned and smirked at him. "You're lucky you've got me to give you a leg up!"

He could only wonder what the combat system would be like. Chigusa obviously wanted it to be a surprise.

She walked swiftly through town, never stopping to glance in any direction but the way she was going. She moved too quickly for him to properly stop and look around, but he did take in as much of the city as he could as he followed her. While he was still in awe at the graphical quality he couldn't help but think about how, after a first glance, the game didn't really look that different from rpgs of the past.

Aside from the main road leading up to the town square, most of the buildings in the town were matching generic stone houses. Shirou suspected most of them probably didn't have doors that could be opened. At most they'd just be permanently locked.

It was still amazing to be _in_ the world though. They could get to more creative environments later.

They soon came upon one of the gates leading out of the city, and Shirou stopped to gape at the high stone arch, banners flying in the breeze.

 _A little cliché or not, that's pretty cool._

Beyond the gate lay a sprawling grassland, dotted with trees and rocks. Off in the distance were strange semi-floating landmasses that appeared to be connected to the lands below them by much narrower bits of earth. Would they be explorable? How could they even get up there? Chigusa suddenly clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a start.

"Welcome to the field! Outside the starting city is the real Aincrad," she said a broad smile on her face. "Now then, let's party up and Big Sis will teach you a thing or two about fighting in this world." She swished at the sky in front of her with her right hand, opening the menu, and spent a second or two navigating her screens. A window popped up just in front of Shirou, notifying him that he had received a friend request from Hinoka. He accepted without hesitation.

"Great, now that we're friends in-game we can private message each other or send party requests much more easily," said Chigusa. As she spoke, she began opening menus again, until this time a party request appeared in front of Shirou. Again, he accepted, and Chigusa's name, character icon, and health bar appeared in a small semi-transparent window in the upper-left corner of his view.

"When we're in a party together, we can see each other's condition – without hitting each other first," she added, shooting Shirou a smirk. "It's the same thing if a bunch of players get together for a dungeon raid. Also, members in a party share exp and cor, though the player who deals the killing blow to a monster gets the majority of the reward."

"Sounds like you could grind faster by going solo," said Shirou.

"Nah, you get more done working in teams. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, right? That's classic MMO strategy."

She began moving on again without waiting for him to say anything.

They began walking across the open grasslands and rounded a clump of mossy rocks. A blue boar came into view. Chigusa spun her spear around in hand and shifted her grip to hold it in both hands.

"The beast over there is called a 'Frenzy Boar', it's the most basic of all monsters in this field – and anywhere, really."

Shirou peered a little closer. "Most basic" didn't seem like the right word to call it. The animal looked every part the style of a wild boar in real life, right down to its fierce tusks. He couldn't help but shiver at the thought of how it might feel to be gored by the creature.

"You don't feel pain in Sword Art Online," Chigusa said, as if reading his mind. "This was one of the things that frightened me at first, but I promise you won't feel a thing even if that boar runs you through with its tusks. Trust me, I know."

"Wouldn't that kill me?"

" _Duh_ , but this is a video game," said Chigusa. "Do you remember that big black castle back at the square? If you die in this world you'll respawn back there."

Back at town? Right where they first began the game? Shirou glanced upward, where he knew lay ninety-nine other floors. "What if I'm on a higher floor?"

Chigusa shot him a rueful grin. "Back to floor one. You can warp between unlocked floors, but imagine how annoying it would be to backtrack to floor five because you got killed by giant wasps."

Shirou smirked at his sister. "Pretty specific example you had there."

She stuck her tongue back at him.

"How do you revive party members in this game?" he asked.

"There wasn't a way during the beta, but I'll be shocked if it stays that way. Raiding parties will complain like hell if it does."

"Anyways!" Chigusa added sharply, "we were supposed to be teaching you how to fight. Now, that Frenzy Boar won't bother us until we attack it, so we're fine to just chat – but not all monsters will be so courteous. You'll notice that there's no menus popping up for either of us even though there's a monster nearby."

Shirou looked around without meaning to, realizing only then that Chigusa was right. It had been nagging him at the back of his mind without him noticing it. How was he supposed to hit it? Did he have to aggro the monster first?

"That means," Chigusa continued, "that you just swing your weapon on your own!"

She took a step forward, thrusting her spear out. The blade turned red until the spear came to a stop.

"You saw that, right?" asked Chigusa. "The system will recognize anything that can be considered an attacking motion, and the dangerous part of your weapon – the hitbox – will glow."

Shirou nodded and drew his sword, realizing only then how heavy it was. Most of the weight was at the handle, making it easier to balance but harder to hold. It was probably a pretty light weapon given that it was newbie gear, but it felt awkward in-hand. He raised it high and swung it toward the ground, but his swing carried him further than he meant to. While he fought to keep his footing, he saw that the blade of his sword had turned blue while it was swinging. Once he was steady again, her tried a few – shorter – horizontal chops. His cheeks burned as he realized what a putz he must have looked like.

"I've never used a sword in my life," he said defensively, even though Chigusa had remained silent during his experimentation.

"Oh yeah, I was terrible with my first spearn," Chigusa said, a wide smile on her face. "I was holding it near the end, waving the head around wildly and hoping I would make contact. I accidentally dropped it and then I just ran away for about five minutes before the boar let me go."

He laughed briefly at the image.

"But I'll show you how it's done," she said as she took a few steps toward the boar.

The animal was simply rooting around on the ground with its snout, but she walked up and dealt it a quick jab in the side. It raised its head and gave a howl, startling Shirou. Its anger sounded so _lifelike_...

It turned and charged at Chigusa, head bowed and tusks pointed toward her, but she stood her ground and shifted her grip on her spear to bring it closer to her body. As the boar came close, she stepped forward and caught its charge with the shaft of her spear. She was forced back a step, but she held the creature there. Squealing loudly, the beast tried to drive itself onward, but Chigusa held it back.

"Do you see how its tusks are glowing?" Chigusa said, her voice free of strain or concern.

Shirou had been so preoccupied by Chigusa's fighting that he hadn't, but now that he looked closer, he saw that the boar's tusks were indeed glowing, this time a dark red color.

"Whenever monsters attack, the dangerous parts of their attack also light up, the same as ours. You can either dodge, or block their attacks with your own weapon."

"Wouldn't that damage the weapon?" asked Shirou.

"Yeah it takes a tole on the weapon's durability, so don't abuse it," said Chigusa. "Shields are much better for blocking, you should pick one up since your sword leaves one hand free."

Shirou glanced at his empty left hand. He'd look for a shield later on.

Chigusa took a step forward and gave a thrust, pushing the boar back. The beast was thrown off with remarkable ease, and it was sent tumbling onto its side. After a little kicking at the air, it righted itself, its blood-shot eyes fixed on Chigusa and its rear hoof grinding away at the grass. Chigusa took a step back and returned to her initial stance, holding her spear forward with the tip angled toward the ground.

The boar squealed and charged, but Chigusa brought her spear up high, striking the beast in mid-air and carving a red hexagonal gash across its face. The beast paused for a fraction of a second, as if time had stopped for it, and then exploding into dozens of polygon shards, which drifted upwards and scattered into the air. A pop-up appeared before Shirou, informing him he'd earned a few EXP and cor from the battle.

So that was how fighting was done in SAO. Shirou just stared at his little sister, eyes wide. Chigusa, always on a computer and always resenting physical education at school, and now she looked every bit the part of an experienced and confident spearwoman. Did SAO do that to the people who played it?

Would that happen to _him_?

"That's fighting the hard way, though," Chigusa said as she planted the blunt end of the spear shaft in the ground.

"So there's an easier way to do it?" Shirou asked. So there was a trick to it after all. Maybe he wouldn't end up _quite_ as awesome as he had been thinking - but it would be easier, probably.

"Of course," Chigusa said, laughing, "we're gamers, not mercenaries. The game has a skill system that can do the heavy lifting for you if you use it right. I only picked up that free attack after a few hours practicing in the beta."

Skills, of course. What modern RPG was without those? But he didn't have anything that looked like a resource pool, so how would they be balanced? In a game like this, some kind of complex motion-controls seemed natural, but...

Chigusa was walking away into the field. He'd find out soon enough it seemed. Shirou followed after her, and quickly saw that she was heading toward another Frenzy Boar.

"I'll show you the basics of it on this guy," said Chigusa.

She gave the boar a light jab with her spear to provoke it, and then turned her spear around so that it was behind her, and held on with just one hand. Shirou stared at her strange pose, wondering what she could possibly be doing holding her weapon so unnaturally. Was she planning to swing it back as the boar approached for more power?

"You first adopt the necessary pose for a skill," said Chigusa.

The blade of her spear began to glow a deep red, and she stepped forward to thrust.

And off she went.

Instead of simply jabbing at the air, she flew like a missile across the field, becoming a red blur. Shirou gaped at Chigusa as she shot through the boar, coming to a rest a few feet past it as it died. This was beyond simply handling a spear properly; maybe SAO really _did_ turn its players into super-humans?

"It's like that," Chigusa called out as she walked back toward him. "Skills activate when you position your weapon in a certain way for a short charge-up period, and then you just swing it and the system will take care of the rest. It's easily the best way to kill most enemies. You can check your own skills on your skill menu and look up the position you need to take to activate them."

Oh, _that_ was a skill.

Feeling a little dumb, Shirou checked his skill menu. The only two he saw were "Vertical" and "Horizontal", along with descriptions and stats for both. The only major difference between the two skills appeared to be their aim, both being self-explanatory.

"I'm guessing some skills are better than others at certain situations?" he asked.

"You got it," Chigusa said, smiling. "You gotta make sure to read up on your skills whenever you unlock a new one so that you can adjust to new enemies. And also, every skill has a small cooldown after use. Your cooling-down skills will appear at the bottom of your interface, so don't forget about that."

Shirou nodded and read the descriptions closely, trying to visualize situations where they might come in handy. "Is there a downside to the skill system?"

"They can limit your combat options, especially early on when you only have a few skills," said Chigusa. "But you unlock new ones pretty often as you raise your weapon masteries, so that works itself away. The later skills go off faster and even have more natural activation positions, which makes it easier to start chaining skills together."

"Sounds pretty cool. I bet the best players will be the ones who can keep using skills continuously," said Shirou.

"Nah, I bet the strongest player would be somebody who doesn't _need_ to use the system." She looked at him, a serious look on her face. "Think about it, if they weren't limited by the skill system, they could surprise anybody, especially since _they'd_ know what their enemy was planning to do. To match something like that you'd need insane versatility of your own."

"Good point," said Shirou. "Anyways, it's my turn at these boars," he added, smirking at her.

Chigusa clapped him on the back, laughing. "Sounds great, let's find some more."

They continued exploring the grasslands, until they came upon a much more open field, where Shirou could see the Frenzy Boars stretching out every which way for a few yards. Every which way. There were tons of them. What if they ganged up on him? He was fairly confident he could take one no problem, but what if they all got upset at watching him kill one of their fellows?

"They won't all aggro me at once, will they?" asked Shirou.

"Not these basic monsters, no. They'll only attack you if you bother them specifically," said Chigusa. "Other enemies won't be as nice, and that's when you'll want to either be a lot stronger than them or have some friends with you."

Shirou walked toward the closest boar, reading the description of "Horizontal" once again. Once he was within the described range of the skill, he positioned his sword, and waited for something to indicate that the skill was ready.

Nothing happened. He tried to swing. While the air was abused by his sword, the boar came off without a scratch.

Obviously he wasn't doing something right. He finally craned to meet Chigusa's eye.

"What am I doing wrong?" he asked, face hot.

"You have to aggro the enemy you want to use the skill on," Chigusa said pleasantly.

Shirou rolled his eyes, remembering the way Chigusa had stabbed the second boar before showcasing her own skill. He strode forward and gave the boar a sharp slap to the side with the flat of his sword, eliciting a squeal that was equal parts surprise, and equal parts rage. It turned to him and did that exaggerated show of grinding its hoof against the grass, during which time Shirou positioned his sword. After a second or two, blue waves of light began to pulse at the edge of his vision on his display. That had to be his skill readying! Grinning, he swung, and suddenly found himself jerked a few feet forward by his sword, until it cleaves the boar while carrying him along for the ride. The boar exploded like the others before it, and a loot window appeared for him.

Shirou grinned stupidly and uncontrollably as he looked at his big sister. "Got my first enemy!" he said.

Chigusa gave him a thumbs-up.

They spent a few hours out on the field, hunting for boars and slightly more dangerous plant-like enemies. His second attempt at a skill went wide, earning him a tusk to his side. Chigusa immediately darted in and struck down the boar, a furious look on her face. After that incident he practiced the timing and aim of his skills, until he began to feel more confident with them. Ultimately, Shirou did most of the fighting, but if Chigusa were impatient for action of her own, she didn't show. Just she watched him have his fun, a pleasant look on her face. After a while, the virtual sun began to set, and they took a silently agreed-upon break to sit upon a hillside.

Shirou smiled as he looked out upon the land, taking in how the field looked while cast in the ruby light of the setting sun. Even the water reflected the sunlight the same way real lakes and rivers did. He wouldn't have been able to tell he was inside of a world of one's and zero's if he didn't know better. Once again, he wondered how it had been done.

"So, having fun?" asked Chigusa.

His sister was pressed against him so close that he could feel her warmth. Maybe it wasn't her actual body, but it was still _her_ sitting so close to him. It was just like when they'd used to play in the park when they were younger. She hadn't changed...

"Yeah," said Shirou. "This world really _is_ amazing. Swinging my sword around on my own feels so awesome. And that view! Everything's so _real_."

"I know, that's exactly how I felt on my first day back in the beta test," Chigusa said, a peaceful smile on her face. "I spent hours and hours just exploring the field, looking for things to see and do, until the sun began to set. I sat at the top of a hill like this one and looked out across the first floor, and I knew right then that it was something I wanted to show you someday. That's why I got myself a second beta-test account under a different name, so that I could pre-order two copies of the full game when it was released, one for both of us."

Shirou laughed. So _that_ was how she did it.

"I've really missed you ever since I moved away from home.. Are you and Dad doing okay ever since Mom..."

She frowned and looked down at her hands.

"Yeah, we're getting by," he said quietly.

"Let Dad know that I can always come back home if you two need me around the house again, okay?"

"I don't think he wants to be responsible for you losing your freedom any more than I do," said Shirou. Their parents had been so proud when Chigusa landed a job with a respectable – if relatively small – software company directly after graduating from university. That had been two and a half years ago.

Besides, they could be together now, even if it was over a game.

"I'm really glad you're having fun," Chigusa said, beaming at him. He leaned closer against him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

It was so nice to see her again.

But...

 _GONG_

 _GONG_

 _GONG_

Shirou was on his feet in an instant. Off in the distance, from the center of the starting city, a loud bell was ringing, its dull tones even spreading out as far into the field as they'd gone. Shirou looked toward Chigusa for answers, but she was simply brushing herself off.

"Don't worry, it's just a GM announcement. There's probably some surprise event starting up," she said.

And then, Shirou found his vision engulfed by blue light, and he was suddenly back in the town square, the same place where he had begun his time in the game. Only now it was more packed than it had been that morning.

Shirou looked around wildly, his heart racing, but he quickly found Chigusa standing right at his side. Surrounding them were hundreds of other players, all chatting confusedly among themselves. Huh, it looked like she was right. He turned to Chigusa to ask what sort of event might be starting, but he saw her looking straight up into the sky. There hung an elongated hexagon bearing the word "Warning". Shirou narrowed his eyes at the box. Was the server going down? Emergency maintenance wouldn't be a huge surprise, but what a lame way to end SAO's first day. Then, the message changed to "System Announcement" and more of the red hexagons appeared, stacking among each other and spreading faster and faster until the sky was a deep red.

And then, blood began to drip through the cracks in the hexagons.

Shirou took a step back. What the hell was _that_?

" _What_ ," whispered Chigusa.

Whatever it was it actually wasn't blood, but something that looked eerily close. The blood-like fluid dropped a few yards toward the ground and coalesced, forming a red blob that grew and unfolded itself into a great red robe. A giant robed figure, smoke billowing out of its hood, floated above them. Shirou stared, shaking. There was no face in that hood.

"What is _that_?" he whispered to Chigusa.

"It's a Game Master," said Chigusa, "but something's _wrong._ The ones from the beta had faces, and they didn't appear like _this_..."

"Attention, player," the figure began in a more clear voice than Shirou would have guessed. "I welcome each and every one of you to _my world_."

" _His world_?" muttered Chigusa.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

Kayaba? Kayaba... The name sounded familiar to Shirou, but he couldn't place it. "Who?"

"He made this game," whispered Chigusa.

Shirou nodded. Kayaba being "in control of this world" seemed too obvious. What was he talking bout?

"I'm sure most of you have noticed an item missing from your main menus," Kayaba continued, his left hand gesturing to summon a row of menu buttons before him.

"The log out button."

Chigusa gave a strangled gasp and immediately opened her own menu. Her eyes simply widened. Shirou stared at her.

"It's gone," she whispered.

"Let me assure you that this is not a defect in the game. I repeat: this is _not_ a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

"We're trapped in the game," Chigusa said, her voice dead of emotion.

 _Trapped!?_

"What!?" gasped Shirou. "That's impossible, can't we just remove our NerveGears?"

"Once you're logged in you can't move your body, the NerveGear interrupts the signals in your brain," said Chigusa. "Without the logout command, there's no way out..."

They were stuck in a video game!? How could that even happen!?

"W-we can't be trapped!" Shirou immediately began clawing at his head, desperate to remove the NerveGear. But he couldn't. He could only touch his virtual body. He looked down at his hands, his fake, virtual hands, his real body feeling like a million miles away.

"Shirou, calm down!" Chigusa cried, emotion finally returning to her voice as she pulled him into a tight hug.

Shirou grabbed her arms and held them. He... he had her. At least he wasn't alone...

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO," said Kayaba, "and no-one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

Shirou stared up. Chigusa's grip on him tightened.

 _This was..._

Panicked words began to buzz between the collected players.

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGears; an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game now has Two-hundred and thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad _and_ the real world."

Two-hundred and thirteen people. Two-hundred and thirteen people killed... Shirou shook involuntarily.

" _Two-hundred and thirteen_ ," whispered Chigusa.

"As you can see," Kayaba continued as windows began to pop up around him, "international media outlets have around-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal, at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game."

"Clear the game!?" screamed Chigusa. "You can stuff your game!"

Some of the other players added their own verbal abuse. Shirou agreed silently. Kayaba expected them to keep playing SAO after everything he'd said? What the hell was _wrong with him_!?

"It's important you remember the following," said Kayaba, "there is no longer any way to revive anyone who dies within the game. If your hp drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever, and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

Chigusa's arms shook as they held Shirou. Shirou's legs were quivering violently. It took a supreme effort just to remain standing. This... this couldn't be real... How many times in an average mmo would a player die? Dozens? Hundreds?

 _How could this be real!?_

"Shirou," whispered Chigusa.

"There is only one way for a player to escape now: you must clear the game," Kayaba continued in that damn calm tone. Shirou could only stare into his faceless hooded head, his mind buzzing with so many questions. How could Kayaba say all these terrible things while remaining so at ease with everything!? "Right now, you're gathered on floor one, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you can advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor one-hundred, and you will clear the game."

"Clear the whole game without dying once!?" cried Chigusa. "That's insane!"

"Last but not least," Kayaba went on, "I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."

Curiosity seizing him, Shirou swiped his hand at the air to open his menu and looked toward the item sub-menu. Under it, mixed in with the various drops he'd picked up earlier that day, was a "Hand Mirror". It lacked any sort of description. When he went to touch it, a small hand mirror appeared in the air in front of him, and he caught it by reflex.

And then, players all around him were engulfed by intense light, as was he. He clamped his eyes shut, expecting the worst, but the light soon faded. He didn't feel anything happen to him during the lightshow. What was the point of it?

"Shirou, are you okay!?"

"Yeah," Shirou said as he turned toward Chigusa. "I'm ok-"

There she was standing before him. Not the short-haired, large-busted spear woman, but his actual, living older sister, with her long black hair and freckled face. And she was gaping at him.

"Shirou it-it's you! The real you!"

 _What?_

Shirou automatically looked down at the mirror in his hands, and saw his own face staring back at him. The mirror slipped from his hands and shattered on the ground.

" _How_?" he gasped.

"The NerveGear probably scanned our faces," said Chigusa, "And our body types... probably from when we did the calibrations... when we patted ourselves down."

"But what's the _point_ ," Shirou asked of no one in particular. Hands balled into tight fists, he looked up at Kayaba.

"Right now, you're probably wonder 'why'," said Kayaba, as if reading Shirou's mind. "Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this? Ultimately my goal was a simple one: the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal."

"For something so _insane_ ," Chigusa said hoarsely.

"He'd trap us in this game... toying with our lives," whispered Shirou.

"This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."

And then the robed figure of Akihiko Kayaba collapsed and vanished, and the sky returned to its proper color in a flash. And all was quiet.

Shirou could only stand there, staring at the sky.

How could this _happen_!?

He was supposed to be spending time with his sister and enjoying an online game, not fighting for his life!

This had to be some sort of _nightmare_!

"Shirou, we've got to get out of here," whispered Chigusa. She firmly took him by the shoulders and began walking him through the crowd, and he didn't resist.

"But he said there's no way out of the game," he said hoarsely.

"No, I mean away from _here_ , the square," Chigusa said into his ear.

The players around them allowed her to nudge them aside easily, and she steered him back toward the field, her hands like vice grips on his shoulders. She moved past the others gingerly, as if afraid of knocking them over. "Once the other players figure things out they'll start a panic," she said quietly. "We do NOT want to be here when that happens."

Then, just as they were nearing the edge of the crowd, it happened. Screams. People were shouting and crying out. Some were demanding to be let out, others were pleading for mercy. Chigusa just picked up the pace, leading Shirou on until they were well away from the town square. Once they were far enough that the din of the panic was a little quieter, she stopped, her whole body shaking.

"Shirou, I'm so sorry," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I should... I could've..."

"Chigusa, it's not your fault," Shirou said. He pulled himself free of his sisters grip – which was now much looser – and turned to face her. "Nobody could have possibly seen this coming! You know that!"

"No – I probably _could_ have figured this would happen!" she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I've been datamining Sword Art Online since the beta came out, but this morning – just before the servers went live – they pushed out a last-minute patch, claiming it was just for server maintenance. Kayaba was the one who actually wrote the patch, but he introduced a lot of code that wouldn't have had anything to do with server stability. If I weren't in a rush to login and meet up with you I would have gone into full hobby mode and dissected what he patched into the game – I'd probably have seen him making the changes, disabling the logout option, the permanent deaths, everything! They other system devs were probably too busy on the servers to notice - and who would expect Kayaba of all people to do this!? I should've-"

"That doesn't matter now," Shirou snapped. "All that matters is where we go from _here_. What should we do?"

"Uhm... I," Chigusa stammered, her gaze darting this way and that.

"Could I offer a suggestion?"

A woman was walking toward them from the square. A remarkably tall woman, her long black hair tied into a ponytail, a long axe and large shield attached to her back. Chigusa pushed Shirou away and stepped between him and the woman, her spear held ready.

"Calm down, I don't mean you any harm," the woman said calmly. "If we're going to survive this we need to work together. I want to help the two of you."

"We don't need any of _your_ help," Chigusa said instantly.

"Are you sure? Three's better than two, isn't it?"

"Why _us_?" asked Shirou.

The woman gave him a puzzled look. "I saw the two of you leaving the crowd and thought that one of you had a plan, so I followed you. I play MMO's only as a hobby... so I won't be able to escape from this world on my own."

She shook her head. "There's too much I don't know, and you," she nodded to Chigusa, "seem to know a lot. I promise to do whatever I can to help keep you both safe, if you'll only help me in return. I don't want to stay trapped here forever."

Chigusa gnashed her teeth and shot Shirou a glance. While he had no idea who this woman was, she certainly seemed earnest, and he couldn't think of any reason she might have to be lying.

Not if she wanted out of the game, anyways. If Kayaba was right, then her only motivation for betraying them would be... to kill them in real life.

He shut his eyes. He didn't want to _imagine_ the possibility that a total stranger would want to kill them.

He met Chigusa's glance and nodded, and she lowered her spear.

"We're willing to hear you out," said Chigusa. "You can call me Hinoka, and this is my brother, Razler."

"I'm Seriyuha," said the woman.

Not one of the three bothered to draw attention to the elephant in the room that they'd only exchanged their in-game names. Trust only went so far, and Shirou liked it better that way.

"At this point," said Seriyuha, "We're better off believing that everything Kayaba said was the truth. I don't know how serious he was when he said that he'd allow us to leave the game if we beat it, but we don't have much choice."

"I agree," said Shirou. If there was any other way for them to escape from the game, Chigusa would have known of it. If Kayaba were lying to them, they'd just have to hope that people on the outside could help them escape.

"What about our real bodies?" asked Chigusa.

"They'll probably have us moved to hospitals soon," Seriyuha said quietly. "Kayaba informed the authorities about the dangers of our NerveGears, so he's probably made arrangements to allow for us to get medical care while we're in this game..."

"His little plan won't get anywhere if we all drop dead before the first month ends," muttered Shirou.

Chigusa started gnawing lightly on her right thumbnail. "I live alone... I hope they find my body in time..."

"There's no point worrying about that," Seriyuha said, her gaze on Chigusa again. "If Kayaba was half as thorough in his planning for our health as he was in trapping us all here in the first place, then we should be fine."

Shirou felt rather bitter to admit it, but Seriyuha had a point. Kayaba had so far presented himself as detailed, if nothing else... "In that case, what's your plan, Seriyuha?" he asked.

"First, did you really play in the beta?" Seriyuha asked Chigusa.

"Yes," Chigusa said instantly. "We managed to reach the tenth floor, so I know a lot about the first few floors, especially this one."

"Where would you suggest we go right now?"

Chigusa frowned. "That depends on what you're looking for."

"If you, as a beta-tester, wanted to improve your chances of increasing your power and escaping this game, where would you go to do that the fastest?" asked Seriyuha.

Chigusa gave a gasp of recognition. "Away from _here_. The newbies are going to start grinding the fields in no time. The monsters respawn, of course, but not fast enough to make up for thousands of players killing them around the clock. We'll be choked for exp, cor, and items by sundown tomorrow."

"And the players who know better?"

Shirou stared at Seriyuha. Every question was fired off instantly, as if she were expecting the answers Chigusa was giving her. She was trying to lead Chigusa into saying something specific, he just wasn't sure _what_.

"They'll head for the next village and grind there," she eventually said. "Most likely, the players who know the game – or just games in general – will stay a step ahead of the rest. It takes a while in this game for quests to become available after completing, and back in the beta some quests and field bosses were one-time-only."

 _That_ was it. It was a _race_. Seriyuha wanted to find out how to get ahead of the other players the fastest.

Shirou wasn't sure what to make of this. He could understand Seriyuha's motivation – in a game world where death meant actual death, being selfish was more understandable than normal – but it still wasn't the most laudable of plans.

But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't _very_ glad to have Chigusa and her knowledge of the game on his side.

"Could you guide us to the next village?" asked Seriyuha.

"Yes," Chigusa said slowly, a troubled look on her face, "but wolves lurk on the paths between here and there, so getting there could be dangerous with all of us at level one, especially with it almost being night. It'll be harder to sneak past them with a large party."

"Are the monsters tougher at night?" Shirou asked, already guessing the answer.

"Yes," said Chigusa. "Nocturnal creatures are usually at least two levels above their day-time counterparts, and they have trickier behavior. Here in this field, skeleton fighters come out at night. They're weak at first, but if you keep killing them more show up and they get bigger, until eventually a giant one will come and look for you."

"Eeesh," muttered Shirou. And he had thought the boars sounded bad at first...

"How dangerous would it be for the three to us to spend a few hours grinding here at night?" asked Seriyuha.

"If we're careful, not very. Fighting in a party is always easier than fighting alone," said Chigusa.

Seriyuha, her arms crossed, looked toward Shirou. "Are you comfortable with doing that?"

Shirou could only agree. With Seriyuha looking to him, specifically, for his own say in the matter, he couldn't refuse her, not when a workable plan was laid out before his feet. And besides, he didn't want to stop to think about anything right then. Maybe a few hours busting skeletons in the field would do him some good...

"Then let's go," Seriyuha said as she led the way back to the fields.

Shirou followed her, Chigusa at his side. Though Chigusa was the experienced one, she didn't question Seriyuha leading them, nor did Shirou. It was a matter of bearing; Seriyuha felt to him like somebody to listen to.

That night went as productively as Chigusa had said. Seriyuha had opted for a knight class, which left her slower than the siblings, but with much more staying power in combat. She fought the skeletons head on, often holding off two or three of the them at once while Shirou and Chigusa worked to fight at her sides and behind her. The three of them made a solid team, and they had all reached level four by the time they concluded their night grinding. Some of the numbness that Kayaba had left Shirou with had worn away by then, and he even started to believe that they had a chance if they could continue to work together.

Even so, he didn't particularly mind when Chigusa insisted on sharing a room at the inn they decided on. He didn't want to be alone that night...

* * *

One of the strangest things in the actual SAO is how much rides on the shoulders of young teenagers. Adult gamers like Chigusa and Seriyuha would certainly exist in 202X, so why were the only ones we ever saw secondary characters or villains? How was it that a _fourteen year-old_ managed to figure things out so perfectly? In reality, you'd more likely see the older gamers stepping up to look after the younger ones - the ones more likely to lose their heads.

And, what, SAO doesn't have classes?

Well... fuck that, that's _stupid_.

Anyways, please take time out to review! Constructive criticism is especially welcome!


	3. Rekindling

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases

* * *

 _There was nodenying that was the darkest things had gotten since as far back as the twenty-fifth floor._

 _Back then, we didn't know what to expect from that floor, or that ridiculous difficulty spike of a boss..._

 _That was when things went wrong for us. Even with Seriyuha's leadership and Hinoka's strategies, we lost a lot of players to the first quarter-boss. If it hadn't been for a few new heroes springing up right then, there was no telling what would have happened._

 _The first of those heroes was, of course, the "Living Legend". It wasn't until some time later that Kirito would make himself known as the "Black Swordsman". Their presence on the front lines brought hope to other players, but now both were gone. Luckily, there was one more hero, this one trained and conditioned by our enemy. Asuna, the "Flash". And now she was most likely waiting for a chance to die._

 _If we lost her too..._

* * *

The Summer Knights trudged into their meeting hall, which was really just the living room of an apartment Seriyuha had purchased in Marten, the town on the fifty-seventh floor. Housing wasn't particularly cheaper there compared to the rest of the castle, but it was one of the towns that looked the closest to being from the world outside. Her meaning _had_ to be to remind the Summer Knights of what they were fighting for.

Their "meeting area" was pretty bare-bones in reality, being little more than a large round table encircled by chairs. The rest of the apartment itself was empty; Seriyuha didn't live there. It was simple, but it worked, and there was no need to be fancy about things. The Summer Knights were a guild that was past its prime...

Keh-keh was the last to get to her seat. The young girl threw her hands up and screamed, "Well _that_ happened!" the moment she was settled in.

"Yes, Keh-keh," Seriyuha said, her eyes shut tight, "that did _indeed_ happen. Meeting's started, though I'm not sure why I bother mentioning that when Keh-keh took it upon herself to start it on my behalf. _Again_."

Razler looked around glumly, not particularly surprised that nobody was amused at the antics. Elise was glaring at - or rather through - Seriyuha, Lyle was leaning forward with his elbows crossed on the table, and even Hinoka was struggling to sit upright. Silence took control for a period. Seriyuha frowned at the middle of the table, most likely unsure how to even begin the meeting.

"May the Lord have mercy upon poor young Kirito," murmured Samson.

Lyle scoffed and shot his considerably larger guildmate a dirty look. " _Him_? What about _us_?" he snapped.

Samson simply shook his head, but Lyle seemed near to the edge of getting on his feet.

"Enough," Seriuyha said firmly. "The last thing we need at this point is an argument."

"Where do we go from here?" asked Flashy, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Well that's obvious," said Hinoka, "we begin exploration of the seventy-sixth floor and – "

"Beat Kayaba's ass across the top of this castle!" cried Elise.

Flashy shot Elise a worried look and shrank in her chair. "It's not going to be that simple, Elise!"

Elise turned and gave Flashy a cocky smile. "Why? Nobody from our guild died today. We're still up for more!"

"No, Flash has a point," Razler said loudly. "And to make things worse, the other clearers have got to be pretty scared right now. But Elise isn't wrong either; we've gotta do something. We've got the numbers, and we aren't reeling particularly badly from the fight against Skull Reaper."

Elise looked to him and nodded furiously.

"But how can we raise morale?" asked Samson. "We lost our good name among the clearers back on the twenty-fifth floor."

"That was ages ago!" cried Lyle, "The other clearers were just quick to jump to the KoB!"

"Enough," said Seriyuha. "This isn't the time to break into _that_ debate again. Without Heathcliff and Kirito, the other players will need somebody to look up to, that means we have to make certain that Asuna is well."

"She looked ready to give up to me," Keh-keh said as she twirled her hair around in her fingers.

A seat clattered to the floor. Lloyd was on his feet, glaring down Keh-keh. Razler stared, alarmed at his explosive reaction. " _Could you try some tact_?" Lyle said quietly but thickly.

Razler looked away from Lloyd.

"The Flash is stronger than that," cried Flashy.

"No," Samsum said loudly and calmly. "Back when we were clearing the middle floors, she was so determined to clear the game as fast as possible that she was getting frantic. Whenever she held those strategy meetings for smaller raids she would snap at every little thing. I expected her to break down sobbing eventually."

Razler grimaced. It had been so long ago that his scattered meetings with Asuna had blended together, but he'd always gotten in the impression she was just a harsh person. But then, memories of her quiet tears from less than an hour ago were crystal clear. Samson had read her right.

"It wouldn't have surprised me either," said Seriyuha. "If I thought it would help I'd have tried warning her about the stress she was putting herself under. Not that I knew how to reach her anyways. Luckily, she calmed down after meeting Kirito."

"Yeah, what a concept, learning to _enjoy a_ _video game_ makes you happier," said Keh-keh.

"Tell that to MOBA players," muttered Razler.

Hinoka growled loudly, though nobody gave an indication of having heard her. Lloyd, however, nodded, a humorless smile on his face.

"So what can we do for Asuna?" asked Hinoka. "None of us know her that well."

"We have to put the fight back in her," said Lloyd. "Tthe KoB is going to be expecting her to lead them now. If she refuses to replace Heathcliff the guild might just disband."

"And it _that_ happens, most of the remaining clearers might just give up on ever clearing this game. We cannot let that happen," Seriyuha said firmly, "but we also have to begin scouting the seventy-sixth floor. The other players have to see that some of us are still committed to clearing this game, _today_."

She then ran down a brief breakdown of orders; she'd take a half-dozen members of the guild to look into Asuna's condition, while Hinoka and Lloyd split the remaining eleven to begin exploring the next floor. Razler and his guild mates gave their confirmations, Samson more loudly than the rest, and Keh-keh speaking after the others had fallen quiet."

"Should we start immediately?" asked Hinoka.

"Go ahead," Seriyuha said without hesitation. "We'll arrange another meeting once the situation with Asuna is settled."

Hinoka and Lloyd nodded and stood up. The other eleven stood and made to follow them, including Keh-keh, who instead leaped to her feet.

After a short walk the large group found themselves at the teleport gate, and they bunched up onto it. Hinoka called out, "Teleport, Limia!"

A column of light enshrouded the group, blinding Razler to everything else. He shut his eyes tight against the light, until its glare against his eyelids faded.

Razler heard stone clattering beneath his feet, and water rushing under that. The wind was blowing strongly, spraying him and the other with a light mist. A river somewhere? As he moved off the teleport gate to make room for the rest of of his guild, he felt soft wood underfoot. Definitely a river.

His vision cleared. He was standing on a wooden platform, through the gaps of which he could see water rushing by. It was flowing fast but was only a few feet deep, probably shallow enough for him to stand in and certainly shallow enough for him to see that the riverbed was filled with smoothed stones. Looking up, he saw that the platform was larger than he first guessed. It was wide and ringed with light wooden barriers to prevent people accidentally falling in. Not far away was another platform, this one with small wooden buildings built upon it, and linked to the gate platform by a wooden rope bridge. All around him were more and more bridge-linked platforms, some with buildings, some with benches and light wooden pavilions, but it all looked homey enough for a river town. He moved out to the edge of the platform to get a better look.

"Oh wow, how'd I not see any of this earlier today?" Elise asked as she walked up next to him.

Razler realized numbly that they _had_ been there – they'd stopped for a few seconds in Limia after ascending from the seventy-fifth floor. Had he been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed any of this?

Stepping away from the edge of the platform, he shook his head vigorously. What was wrong with him!? Gaping and getting excited after everything that had happened? Someone touched him on the shoulder lightly.

Hinoka.

His big sister gave him a forced smile.

"Looks like another water floor" he said quietly. It wasn't the first, but a river-floor was a little different from a floor riddled with lakes, or a floor with nothing _but_ a lake as the ground, or a floor that periodically got flooded...

Razler realized sullenly that this wasn't the first case of repetition in floor themes in SAO. In a hundred floors, some variance in imagination was to be expected.

"Until we've seen more of the floor I'm not about to jump in that river," said Hinoka. "The current might be meant to sweep us somewhere."

He eyed the rushing waters again and nodded. The river was definitely there for more than just decoration. Otherwise, it was just wasted space on the floor.

"Or else it'll just dump us over the edge of the floor," said Keh-keh, who had wandered over to them.

He shuddered at that. Falling off a floor inevitably meant death.

Samson's heavy footfalls approached from behind. "Well, shall we get underway?" he said. "We still have a job to do."

"Right," said Hinoka. Clearing her throat, she turned toward the rest of her guild.

"Okay, we're a pretty big group just for floor exploration, so we're going to break into two teams of six and seven," she said. "I'll lead one group, and Lloyd's in charge of the other," she continued, gesturing to her companion pole-fighter.

"Only if _you_ get stuck with Keh-keh," Lloyd said quietly.

Hinoka rolled her eyes but didn't refuse.

As the large group split into two, Hinoka dispersed her own team to explore the river city and prepare before they set off. As usual, she immediately joined Razler, and the pair made for the npc blacksmith to examine new upgrades for their gear. Razler took a moment to commit some of the materials he'd need to memory and then checked the list of new uses for older ones, though he found nothing that was to his liking. Upgrading equipment only got harder as the list of required materials became more and more exotic, and in a virtual world without Gamefaqs, it wasn't fully known where some items even dropped. Razler had, for a long while, come to prefer simply obtaining new weapons as convenient and upgrading those to serviceable levels instead of focusing on grinding the most out of a single weapon. He was was in a minority that way; most got attached to a certain weapon that had served them well. He could guess this strategy would get less appealing near the final floors, but equipment drops were still improving for the time being. He was beginning to have troubles with upgrading his current sword, though. It was looking like it was time to trade off his main arm once again.

Maybe he'd try another hammer? He spent so long trying out various weapons and grinding them to find one style to call his own that he'd managed to reach a high rank at most of the weapon masteries during his time in Aincrad.

With that business done, he and Hinoka continued exploring the city - mostly at her insistence. Even after two years spent in Aincrad, Hinoka had held to her conviction that npcs should always be spoken to, and in this particular instance she was well-rewarded, for the townsfolk frequently warned of the river current being stronger than it looked, especially with the slippery rocks lying beneath the surface. Those that fell into the river invariably ended up carried off to the end, where an underwater cave and a horrible river-beast lurked.

Which, to Razler, sounded like a quest they'd want to look into later. Hinoka agreed with him, but the surface of the river was their priority for the time being.

They eventually found an old boat man npc willing to take the group to shore, and Hinoka messaged the team to reconvene at the boat man's location. Once everyone was gathered, the party handed over the fee (which was actually a pittance - only 5 Cor each) that the old man requested for his service. Their dues paid, the seven of them - Keh-keh, Lyle, Hinoka, Razler, Samson, Elise, and Flashy, stepped carefully onto his small boat and got seated as he took to the rear, steering the team toward the southern half of the forests that bordered the river.

The journey was slow and somewhat uncomfortable, as their numbers didn't leave them much in the way of elbow room. Also, the old man rambled about his various programmed-backstory doings in the town. Razler tried to follow the tale for a few moments, but when subjects began to jump suddenly and character names changed without warning, he gave up and stared at their destination instead. The part that bothered him most was that he couldn't see anything resembling an actual landing in the direction they were going. The trees were drawing near, but the water continued as far as the eye could see. Surely there had to be a point in this floor where the river ended and dry land began? Or would the old man just leave them in ankle-deep mud?

But nope, they were some relative of mangroves that Razler had seen from the distance; trees that grew from beneath the placid waters on the river's edge. He groaned loudly.

It seemed Kayaba had found yet _another_ way to torment his victims.

Sure enough, the old man stopped suddenly after a few minutes, bidding his guests to disembark and watch their steps. Razler wasn't the only one to check awkwardly over the edge of the boat, but the npc didn't seem to be planning on going any further. Finally giving up, Razler swung his legs over the side of the boat and into the foot-deep water, his feet sinking a little further with a light squelching sound.

"We're gonna get gangrene or something before we're done with this floor," he muttered.

Groaning loudly, Razler began struggling in the direction of what seemed to be shallower ground. The others followed behind in more or less the same state, though Keh-keh seemed to be sliding over the surface of the water with relatively ease. Her (nearly-maxed, according to her boasting) agility was serving her well. He and the others were less lucky, and waddled along behind her in the muck.

After a little ways the mud hardened underfoot and the water level receded just a bit, allowing them to make greater progress. They definitely seemed to have chanced upon something approaching a trail, for the water deepened if they ever tried to deviate too far to either side.

Unfortunately, it was a path for more than just the players. Before long, Razler could see a creature in the not-so-far distance. It was a sort of greenish fish – a fish standing on long back fins – a "Splasher Scout". Keh-keh had already stopped moving onward, and was holding a pair of small knives in each hand. She turned to look at Hinoka as the others caught up to her. Before Hinoka could give any orders, the scout fixed its gaze on them and let out a high-pitched shriek, and four or five green-colored shapes shot out of the water around them. It was more of the "Splasher Scouts", all snarling and with saliva dripping from their open maws.

"Well, Sahagins," Hinoka said quietly as she raised her naginata.

"Let's let 'em have it!" Elise cried as she ran in, her great axe raised high and a wide grin on her face.

"Don't overdo it!" Flashy cried, her staff held protectively in front of her. A brightly-shining ball of light, a "Dancing Fairy", appeared and hovered around her shoulders. "Don't work Aliera too hard this time, Elise!"

"You know she loves patching us up!" Elise said as she began swinging her cumbersome weapon.

Hinoka dashed in in one direction, and Razler went in another. He let fly with a sword skill that carried him to the first Splasher Scout, but it dropped down to all fours just as his blade drew near. With Razler carried too far, the beast turned and raised a crude bone-crafted sword. It was pure instinct and Razler's buckler that saved him from the beast's counter, but it was Samson's massive fist that saved Razler from wasting more time on the creature.

"And the Lord is with us!" Samson thundered as he turned from the splasher he'd pulped.

"Duh, I'm always hanging out with you guys," said Keh-keh.

"Quiet, girl!"

Samson moved quickly for a man his great size, and the Splasher turned and knelt low, spit flying and crude weaponry held ready. Samson tucked into a dive that carried him into the Splasher's attempt to duck his blow, his shoulder colliding with the beast. It went flying beneath the water, and Samson turned to drive his fist into it, only for a trio of small black darts to strike the creature's neck, splintering it into fragments.

Razler and Samson both rounded on Keh-keh near-simultaneously. She was smirking, a few knives in-hand.

"Benedictions upon thee, giant man!" she cried.

"I'm the only Lord we need," Lyle said calmly as he squared off with a Splasher, rapier and swordbreaker in alternate hands.

The creature lunged forward with its bone-sword, but Lyle caught the weapon with his swordbreaker, and the Splasher itself with his main weapon.

"Though I'm more a Lord of Blades."

"You're no match for Asuna, Lyle!" cried Elise.

"Someday we'll put that to the test," he said.

"Cool, you could stand to get knocked down a peg!" Elise cried as she swung her axe wide this way and that. Its sheer reach kept the Splasher she'd chosen as her opponent at bay, but the small beast was darting and ducking between her wide, slow sweeps. But despite that, she was giving the monster a toothy grin.

"Hah! C'mon, springy, it'll only take one nick to lay you flat!" she cried.

A red shape dove in from behind, Hinoka's naginata piercing the Splasher's torso. It shattered, and Elise gave her leader a dirty look.

Smiling, Hinoka said, "I told you your weapon's way too clumsy, Elise."

"Doesn't need to be graceful when it's got loads of power!" Elise said as she shook her fist at Hinoka.

Grinning despite himself, Razler turned to find a Splasher of his own to kill. Against smaller creatures it was easier to be like this: bickering with one another, competing for kills and fighting each in their own way. Against bosses it was either compose themselves or die. Seriyuha often proved helpful on the "composing" part. Even so, they always looked out for one another in their own - unusual - way.

The Splasher Scouts turned out to be only the first of the Splashers to appear, with Splasher Knights (armored and more defensive versions) and Splasher Brutes (larger and deadlier, but slower) following, both having an annoying habit of being drawn and aggroed by the sound of a Splasher Scout screaming. Elise was the only one to truly enjoy fighting the larger foes, but the Summer Knights weren't terribly troubled by any of them.

Then, when they once came across a single Splasher idling away for a threat to scream about, Keh-keh casually picked it off from range with her throwing knives. The summer knights lowered their weapons, all thoroughly deflated.

" _Why didn't you do that sooner_?" demanded Hinoka.

"Eeehh, these stupid sahagins are boring already," Keh-keh said tiredly as she moved ahead.

So it went that they spent the rest of that day wondering whether or not Keh-keh would steal kills from them – and arrangement she had a good laugh about.

The not-so-deep path they were on appeared to branch at several points as they went, though they tried to keep the same relative distance from the center of the river. A few times - increasingly as they went on - they saw other groups of players exploring and fighting Splashers. Often they would offer words (or cries) of support or trades on minimap exploration or items. There weren't all that many clearers compared to the total number of players left, and though he often didn't know them by name, Razler could recognize at least most of the players they ran across by sight. Anybody who saw another player on the uppermost available floor would know what their purpose was, and they were best off helped. The clearing group had become increasingly tight-knight as their numbers dwindled.

And Razler felt relieved to see some of them out and about, regardless of the tragedy that had occurred. Maybe they still had hope after all.

As the sun began to set, Hinoka called for the group to begin heading back to town. Everyone agreed without a fuss; nobody wanted to be so far out at night while exploring an unfamiliar floor for the first time. They managed to find another npc boat man willing to take them back to town only minutes before night in Aincrad officially began. Just as he'd done on the ride out to shore, Razler watched the edges of the river. He couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw large dark shapes slinking out from the water. He elbowed Keh-keh and pointed out what he saw.

"Oohhh, it's a giant croc, very spoopy," she gasped.

"Giant crocs!?" cried Elise. She rounded on Hinoka and hurredly said, "Let's go back out there!"

"Denied."

"Please?"

"We wouldn't be able to go bak out _anyways_ ," muttered Hinoka. She poked her thumb toward the boat man. "Old rowie up there said we only just made it before he went back to town for the night."

Razler shuddered. So this floor also stranded players out in the field at night. Kayaba had clearly had a _very_ bad day when he laid out his plans to the development team for this one.

Upon returning, Hinoka called for a head count back at the teleport gate, Lloyd's team having already returned and left before Hinoka's had. The Knights gathered in a small scattered group, Hinoka facing them with her back to the gate.

"Nice job today, everyone. We got some loot, but more importantly, other players saw us out there. We might have lost Kirito, but we're not beaten yet!"

The others cheered, even Keh-keh (though as if bored).

"Once they realize that this too shall pass, they'll want a shot at Kayaba all the more," said Samson.

"If what he did today really _does_ drive them even harder to complete the game," Razler began, "then..." He was about to say, "then maybe it would be worth it". His stomach writhed, and he was immensely thankful that nobody said anything.

Samson laid a heavy hand on Razler's shoulder and gave him a warm grin, which Razler forced himself to return.

"So, meet up again tomorrow morning?" Keh-keh asked, her arms crossed behind her head.

"Yeah, around ten AM sounds good to me," said Hinoka, "I'd like to see if we could at least find the path to the Labyrinth tomorrow. Finding that would be really good for us."

Samson gave a booming laugh, his arms crossed over his chest. "Then tomorrow we shall show them a greater miracle than any they've yet seen!"

Lyle laughed lightly. "Save it for the boss, Samson, we might _need_ a miracle or two then."

"That's an excellent idea!"

Samson stepped onto the platform – Keh-keh having already used it while nobody was watching her – and teleported to his home on floor Forty-Six. The others followed, one-by-one. The last to depart, Hinoka and Razler stepped onto the platform together and teleported to the city of Selmburg on floor Sixty-One, where the siblings shared a home.

Their vision cleared, revealing the city that was already starting to become bathed in the golden lights of its street lamps. This came with a price: Selmburg was one of the most expensive places to live in Aincrad that had yet been unlocked. Back when Hinoka first pitched the idea of moving there, Razler thought that buying a home on such an expensive floor was a waste of cor, but she invoked Big Sister Privilege and overruled him. To her credit, she paid the majority of the cost on their house.

But as he walked down the pristine streets, the city lights glowing around him, Razler couldn't help but take some comfort for the lost money. Selmburg wasn't bad as far as cities in Aincrad went, and the house they picked out wasn't far from the teleport gate. Much like the city, their house was expensive but ultimately worth it, being a two-bedroom, one kitchen, one living room affair. Both rooms were comfortable enough by the fantasy-world standards of SAO but were sparsely decorated, furniture being mostly superfluous in this world. Hinoka had tried to make up for the lack of decoration options by placing some of her old equipment sets on armor stands and framing boss or quest reward trophies that she was particularly fond of. Both siblings spent most of their time when actually at home in the living room anyways, talking mostly about their recent doings or future plans. The past - specifically of the real world - was off-limits as a rule.

"Shirou," Hinoka began as she called up the NPC-made stew she'd picked up for dinner - while applying liberal amounts of seasonings, for what good it did – "are you doing okay with everything that happened today?"

Razler likewise summoned up some NPC food and said, "Yeah, I'll be okay. I can't say I knew Kirito that well."

"That's _not_ what I meant," Hinoka said, her gaze firmly on her little brother.

Razler sighed and collapsed in his seat, picking at his food with a fork. "I know. I've been trying to think how anybody might beat Heathcliff one-on-one. I thought for sure Kirito was our best fighter."

"Thinking's my job, though," Hinoka said through a mouthful of stew.

Razler looked up at her, smiling. "I thought you weren't very good pvp? Isn't that why you rage quit that League game after like six months-"

"Oh fuck off!" cried Hinoka. "You'd be mad too at all the bronze players never doing what I wanted them to do! MOBAs suck anyway."

Razler laughed quietly.

"But you're right about dueling here," Hinoka said, quietly. "Monsters, either bosses or just groups of small-fry - they're no problem to figure out. Players are harder. And it's tricky to think when they're coming at you with a sword"

"C'mon, Sis, we both know you're better then that."

Hinoka's eyes clouded. "Only when I have to be..."

"Yeah," Razler said quietly.

He quickly thought about something else.

When he thought back to it, he felt he could have picked at least a few things apart from the fight between Heathcliff and Kirito, and he'd spent some time thinking about that. The first thing that he kept firmly in mind was how absolute Heathcliff's defense had been. That wasn't a surprise, of course; the man's staying power in a fight was most of his legend. Razler was still glad that he had been firmly reminded of how useless a direct assault would ultimately be against Heathcliff - though it came at a high cost.

One thing was for sure: if Kirito wasn't strong and fast enough to break down Heathcliff's defenses, then nobody else could in a fair fight.

"I don't have any _good_ plans just yet, but I think Kirito was wrong to try just hammering away at him like he did. It worked the first time, but I bet Heathcliff wasn't fighting as seriously."

"What would you do in Kirito's shoes?"

"There's no way to beat Heathcliff when he's focusing on defense," he said slowly. He narrowed his eyes at his pork bowl. Heathcliff never took to the offense on his own. He only ever countered Kirito's attacks.

"I'd try to find a way to bait him into attacking and getting a single good hit in when his guard's down." he said at the same time as the plan came to him.

Hinoka leaned forward, beaming. "Not bad, Shirou. We might end up having to go with that."

Razler shuddered at the thought. "I'd rather we just ganged up on him, but after that dramatic show he made today about having a duel to the death with Kirito, I bet he'll-"

Hinoka suddenly gasped and opened her menu. She began reading a message, frowning, and gave a huge sigh as she reached the bottom. "Oh, _crap_."

"What's wrong _now_?"

"Asuna's gone missing," Hinoka said heavily. "Seriyuha had a couple members of our guild waiting near her house on his floor all day while she and a few others asked around at the KoB to see her, but she hasn't returned home or gone back to headquarters."

Razler's bowl of food clattered to the floor. "She isn't going to _hide_ until her grace period ends is she!?"

Hinoka leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. "I figured as much. She's having a horrible time of it and teenagers are really stupid and moody in the best of times. Why do you think I need to watch out for you? _W_ ith the shape she's in, who knows."

Razler gaped at Hinoka for a moment, realizing slowly that it wasn't the fact that Asuna had gone missing that she was upset about. "Where'd you expect her to go?"

"Asuna isn't somebody who does things halfway," said Hinoka, "I thought that if she were in bad enough shape she'd just lock herself up in her home and ignore everyone else while dwelling over losing Kirito."

So Hinoka assumed that Asuna would hide at a place several people already knew she lived. In a lighter mood, he might have laughed at her. "She might have gone somewhere else," he offered. "She and Kirito vanished for a couple of weeks until just this morning."

Hinoka's eyes snapped open. "You're right. We'll have to ask around tomorrow and try to find out where they were."

"Where do we even start, though," muttered Razler.

He despaired for a moment since he didn't know Kirito or Asuna personally, but he quickly realized it was easier than he had thought. He could clearly remember the other players, Klein and Agil, who reached out to Kirito just before the end. Klein and his guild would re-appear in the seventy-sixth floor eventually, but he didn't know where their base was. Luckily, he knew where to find Agil's shop; it had featured on the player newspaper after Kirito tried to hide there when his Dual-Wielding was first revealed.

He explained his idea to Hinoka, but she groaned "Eww, but that means going to _Algade."_

Razler rolled his eyes at her.

"I'll definitely need to get some of the guild involved in this one," she said, "exploring it with just the two of us could take hours with the size of that place."

She spent a few minutes sending messages, first to Seriyuha, who agreed with their plan, and then next to a few members of the guild. Razler quietly sat, thought, and ate while his sister arranged for a small group to help them search while others continued exploring the seventy-sixth floor. At least he'd have an excuse not to try hunting for the monster crocodiles with Elise. Once their plans were set, Razler and Hinoka tried to force some small talk, but neither were in much mood to chat that night. They finally went to sleep earlier than usual for either of the two of them.

As Razler entered his own room, his gaze automatically fell to his collage. Hinoka kept physical trophies as memories of her time in SAO, while Razler plastered one of his walls with printed screen captures. Guild raids, victories over the labyrinth bosses, field quests, and scattered celebrations. The first time she saw it, Hinoka stared at it silently for nearly a minute and then excused herself, her eyes wet with tears. He'd kept memories of all of them.

And on another wall, he kept pictures of the ones who'd died.

But he didn't have any pictures of Kirito on either wall.

He sat and stared, arms loose at his side. Kirito had once saved his life, and Razler returned the favor by securing no way to remember him by. Noticing something, his breath caught, and he scanned his wall quickly.

He had no pictures of Asuna either. At least no good ones - there were one or two where she was in the distance and indistinct. Not again.

He spent that night lying sleepless in his bed, and even going for an hour-long walk around city didn't help much. When he finally gave up and came back inside, he noticed Hinoka's door was open and her room empty. Even after he managed to fall to sleep, his dreams were a jumbled mess of images from Kirito's duel with Heathcliff and Asuna's defeated appearance flashing through his mind in random order. When morning finally came, he was relieved. Hinoka was eating her breakfast without looking at it or anything at all, her eyes glassy and her hair slightly frazzled. Razler guessed he didn't look much better.

Though he didn't feel hungry, he forced himself to eat, and felt some life in himself again once he had. He and Hinoka made for the teleport gate once they were ready, and departed at once to Algade. Lyle nodded at them as they arrived, but only he was waiting for them. It was a few minutes longer before Keh-keh, Danger_Close (or just Danger), and Thunder Cavalier (usually Thunder) arrived.

With their help gathered, the siblings turned to face the challenge set before them. The Algade teleport gate was at the center of the city, and to an untrained eye, every street leading away from it looked the same as the others around it.

And as Algade was twenty-six floors ago, their eyes _were_ untrained.

Big, overly populated, full of cramped streets, and maze-like, Razler had hated the few weeks they spent clearing the fiftieth floor. Owing to its size and status as being halfway up the castle, Algade was the second-most populated city in SAO after the starting town. Both casual and advanced players lived there for one reason or another, and the NPCs and loot offered a pretty varied level range of items to be sold to other players. Those two factors drew merchants, which then helped to draw players looking to steal from one another, which finally offered player killers a means to blend in amongst the less-dangerous riffraff. He wasn't quite sure why anybody would want to live in a place like it anymore.

But the city wasn't about to get smaller while they stood at the gate despairing over the task set before them, so they split up to cover more ground. Luckily, it actually only took about twenty or thirty minutes of asking around before Razler received a message from Lyle that Agil's shop had been found. Apparently, the man was famous (if not infamous) for his strong deal-making. Agil's store was hidden away in one of the city's many alleys, and had a distinctly shabby appearance from the outside.

"Man, this guy must be _cheap_ ," Keh-keh cried as she approached.

"That's his reputation," said Lyle.

"We're not here for his generosity," Hinoka said as she walked toward the door without breaking stride.

The inside of his store gave a better impression than the outside did. His wares were arranged neatly and attractively on the walls and on and within the front counter, and Agil himself looked up at them with a confident grin as they entered.

"Welcome!" he boomed. As he got a better look at the large group coming into his store, he paused shrewd. "You're from the Summer Knights right? What are you looking for this far down?"

"We're not here to shop," said Hinoka. "We wanted to know if you knew where Kirito and Asuna were over the last few weeks."

Agil's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Why do you wanna know?" he asked sharply.

"'Cause Asuna's gone missing and we're worried she's gonna to kill herself," Keh-keh said, her eyes on Agil's wares.

Her guildmates gave Keh-keh dirty looks, but Agil sighed deeply and brought his hand over his forehead. "Damn. I was worried something like this was going to happen. I don't know that little girl too well but I've seen her around, always wanting to hang onto Kirito."

He shook his head, and was silent for a moment before continuing, "All I know for sure is that they were on the twenty-second floor, celebrating their honeymoon. They came to see me and tell me the good news before they left."

He laughed bitterly and stared at the wall. "Good news... Their marriage only lasted for a few weeks. Damn Kayaba."

"He'll pay," Razler said thickly. "We're going to make sure he doesn't get away with this. He's waiting for us at the top, and we're going to claw our way up there."

"Damn straight we are," said Agil.

"Thank you for the information," said Hinoka. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure Asuna doesn't do anything drastic."

"Kirito wouldn't want her making any huge mistakes." Agil said quietly.

Razler was one of the first to turn and leave, eager to put the heavy atmosphere of the shop behind. He could almost taste the fresh air on the outside, and he was joined almost as quickly by his companions. Hinoka put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a feeble smile. She then sent off a message to Seriyuha informing her of what they'd learned while they were on the way back to the teleport gate, and their guild leader's reply came before they even reached their destination. She intended to meet them on the twenty-second floor herself. Hinoka and Razler exchanged glances at this revelation, understanding that Seriyuha making a personal visit showed how importantly Asuna rated in her mind.

When they arrived on the twenty-second floor, the noise of too many players (and NPCs) talking and carrying out their daily lives was replaced by serene quiet. The cluster of decaying buildings gave way to green fields and trees, and Razler stepped forward to take in the early floor once again. The sunlight glistened off the wet mid-morning grass and the surface of the lakes, and the wind rustled through the trees. The twenty-second floor was sparsely populated, being home mostly to older players who weren't interested in clearing or getting stronger. Razler couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to spend much time down here, but now that he was here, properly taking the scenery in, Razler understood why Kirito and Asuna had chosen to settle down on this floor.

They hadn't spent much time on the floor; despite being an early floor and thus larger than the ones that tended to come after, most of its landmass was covered with lakes, making it easier to navigate relative to the floors above and below it. There were also few monsters on the floor at all, and the ones that were there were relatively weak. Even the Labyrinth and its boss had been one of the easiest of all the ones Razler could recall, and there were no field bosses. The twenty-second floor could therefore be called, in a word, peaceful. He hadn't really noticed it back then, seeing it at the time as just another floor to clear, but now he had the context to appreciate it.

And he had the time as well; Seriyuha was nowhere in sight. She must have been finishing something up when she got Hinoka's message. Unbothered, Razler went to sit on a nearby low stone wall and take in the crisp air, the rest of his guild mates scattering to find their own places to wait. Hinoka joined him within moments, and sat with her legs tucked in against her chest.

"I didn't notice back then that this place was so nice," she said softly.

"Seems like a good place to settle down," he said. "No wonder Kirito and Asuna..."

The place must have become a scar in Asuna's mind. A shadow of what she'd lost. Where else would be a better ironic place to take her own life?

"I can't believe they even got married," whispered Hinoka. "In this world..."

She sighed and cupped her hands over her face. "I think I can almost understand what she's going through. If I lost you... I don't know what I'd do with myself..."

"Not what she's probably planning to do," he said, his throat tight with emotion.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Seriyuha arrived in that moment, and the Summer Knights (aside from Keh-keh) leaped to give their guildmaster their attention. Hinoka quickly explained the situation in full. Nodding, Seriyuha made for the village that formed around the teleport gate.

"With so few players living here," she began, "and most of them older ones at that, it's safe to assume that people like Kirito and Asuna would have made an impression on some of their neighbors if they were here for any length of time. Split up and ask around for where exactly they were staying. We have to find Asuna as quickly as possible."

The Summer Knights did as told, though Razler and Hinoka remained together as they often did. They found only a few players - both older gentlemen, as Seriyuha had guessed - but none of them new Kirito and Asuna more than in passing. Going out toward the lakes the dotted the floor, they realized that splitting up to cover more ground might have been superfluous. All the players at that time of the day appeared to be fishing around the floor's many lakes, and certainly weren't going anywhere. In fact, they could see from their current vantage point that Lyle and Thunder had already managed to run into one another after only a few minutes of splitting up.

"Maybe we aught to put some distance between us and the town," said Hinoka.

Razler agreed, and they decided to make for the furthest-away lake around which they could see another player. The walk took only a few minutes, but Razler was in no rush to speed the journey up. Walking over the fields and under the trees seemed to relieve some of the weight on his shoulders, and he could tell from her faint smile that Hinoka felt the same.

But, eventually, they did reach the player they had seen, who turned out to be an older man – one of the oldest they'd ever seen logged into the game – wearing a straw hat and metal glasses. He was focused purely on his fishing as they approached.

Razler exchanged a look with his sister.

"You don't think he's an NPC do you?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure they don't fish."

"Yeah, but how do we ask?"

"It's kinda rude, isn't it-"

Suddenly, the older man turned to them, a broad smile on his face. "You can feel free to talk to me, I'm not an NPC."

"Oh!" gasped Hinoka. She rushed a low bow, her face a deep red. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want to distract you!"

"Then I forgive you," the old man said as he turned his gaze back on the lake. "It's not often that young people respect when a man is engrossed in a task."

"Nah, my sister freaks out if you break her concentration," Razler said, giving Hinoka a sly grin. She shot him a nasty look, to which the old man broke out in hearty laughter.

"Siblings, the two of you! It's good to see young players like yourselves enjoying your time!"

"Actually sir, we came looking for a girl a little younger than me," said Hinoka. "Her name was-"

"Asuna, right? Young Kirito's wife?"

Hinoka's eyes widened. "You knew the two of them?"

The old man finally set down his fishing rod. "My name is Nishida. I met Kirito fishing out here only a few days back, and let me tell you, I thought that was the strangest thing I'd seen since I came to this floor, but then he introduced me to his wife, and they even helped me fish up the local lake god!"

Nishida gazed out onto the lake, a warm smile on his face. "They're a good couple. A bit young, but hard times have a way of pushing people together. I'm sure they'll be able to work through any hardships that come their way."

Hinoka looked this way and that, and bowed her head. "Unfortunately..."

Nishida turned toward her, frowning not unkindly, and Razler watched her, realization that she wasn't going to be able to bring herself to say the awful words growing by the moment. How could she, after what Nishida had just said?

But the truth had to come out before they'd get anywhere. And if Nishida was a friend of Kirito's, he deserved to know the truth.

"Kirito is no longer with us," he said thickly.

Nishida rounded on him, his mouth slightly open. Razler bowed his head and shook it, Nishida stepped back and looked out across the lake again.

"This game took him too? Such a good, young man..."

His hands clenched into shaking fists. "Why would anyone do something like this... Crush so many innocent lives..."

"You said Kirito introduced you to Asuna, did he show you where they're staying?" asked Hinoka. "She's gone missing, and we're worried for her safety."

"Of course," Nishida said hurriedly. "Pull up your mini-map, I'll mark the place they lived."

Hinoka quietly did as Nishida asked, and he examined her mini-map for a moment, his hand on his chin. "Right... that's it. It was that event house. Forest House K4, I think it was."

He poked the map with his right index finger, and a white x appeared on it.

"Thank you so much for your help," Hinoka said as she closed her map. "I'll let you know when we're sure Asuna will be okay."

"Not at all," Nishida said quietly as he reached for his fishing poke. "I'd hate to see anything happen to that poor young girl now... The least I can do for Kirito is make sure that his wife makes it through this. She's lucky to have friends like the two of you."

Hinoka and Razler bowed and turned to leave, but Nishida called out to them again. "Let her know... that Kirito would want the best for her. No matter how badly it hurts. She still has a lot left to live for!"

"We will," said Razler.

They left him behind, heading quickly toward the indicated place, pausing only to message Seriyuha with what they'd learned. She replied back, telling them to meet the others at the teleport gate. Upon regrouping, she urged them to lead the way. Now with a trail right before them, they moved at a brisk pace, distance trailing behind them quickly. Razler's heart pounded throughout the short trip, his imagination beginning to run wild on him. What would they find in the cabin? Would Asuna even be there or did she find some secret hole to wait in until she could die?

He gnashed his teeth. She had to be there. And if not, they'd do whatever they had to to find her. They'd narrowed their search down this far already in just a day.

The trip wasn't long; they reached their destination after only around twenty minutes of walking. The place that Nishida had dotted turned out - as he had suggested - to be a small but attractive one-floor log cabin with a patio, nestled within the forest and overlooking a nearby lake. Razler paused a moment to take it in as they approached. Simple but peaceful, it could be called a testament to the floor it was found in.

The knights assembled on the edge of it, Seriyuha up front. "Keh-keh?" she asked without looking at the young girl.

"Yeah, Asuna's in there," Keh-keh said casually as she picked at the grass.

Razler's felt a surge of relief. "She's okay?" he asked.

"Well duh, I wouldn't be able to detect her if she were _dead_ ," said Keh-keh. "She's not moving though. Maybe she's asleep. Or sulking."

"The poor girl just experienced a terrible loss, Keh-keh, try some heart," Lyle said, arms crossed.

"Boring."

Seriyuha uttered a sound of disgusted and strode toward the door. She gave a few clear but not overly hard knocks on the door, and received no reply. After a few seconds of total silence issuing from within, she tried to turn the nob, finding it unyielding against her.

"Asuna, this is Seriyuha of the Summer Knights, one of your fellow clearers! Please, let us in. Don't shut yourself away from the world."

Nothing. The knights remained still.

"Keh-keh," Seriyuha said with a glance to the girl.

Keh-keh flipped onto her feet and strolled over to Seriyuha's side. With one hand on the doorknob to Kirito and Asuna's house, she began fiddling through her menus. Razler watched, stunned, as Keh-keh had the door opened within seconds. He'd never bothered with the lockpicking skill himself, but he'd heard that player dwellings were naturally the very hardest doors in the game to unlock - some thought impossible.

It wasn't the first time he found himself relieved that Keh-keh was on _their_ side.

Seriyuha glanced at the others and held her palm up to them, and then slowly and quietly let herself into the log cabin. The moment Seriyuha was out of sight, the knights moved closer to the door, and listened as closely as they could. With the door left open, they could heard the quietened sound of Seriyuha speaking inside.

"Please... it's not your business." That was Asuna. Razler exchanged a glance with Hinoka, whose eyes were wide. Neither of them had ever heard Asuna sound so... defeated... before. They had knowing going into this that she wouldn't be at her best, but...

"Yes it is, it's the business of everyone who knows you," said Seriyuha. "I'm not here speaking only for myself, the other clearers, your guild, they'll all need you. Please, for all of us, you have to be strong.

"Even if I wanted to... go on... There's no point," said Asuna. "How can any of us keep fighting now? Kirito and the Commander are both gone... it's hopeless..."

"No!" Seriyuha said firmly. Razler flinched at her tone - a reflex action. "Hope will never die, not as long as there's still a single clearer willing to get us out of this game! You have a responsibility to others. We're not asking you to just move on as if nothing happened, but at least promise that you won't give up."

A new moments of silence. Razler leaned closer, his heart pounding, hoping that Seriyuha could get through to her.

"Please... leave me alone..."

His heart missed a beat.

"I'll give you some time to think things through, but I will come back. I'm not ready to give up on you just yet," said Seriyuha, a little more gently.

She stepped out of the house, making no reaction to the fact that everyone else was blatantly listening in on her conversation, and immediately looked to Keh-keh. "Is there anything you can do to track Asuna's movements?"

"Uhh." She hesitated a moment, a rare focused look on her face. "Not from long range. If it's not going to be too long I can just wait here and see if she tries to leave."

"Good, thank you," said Seriyuha. "Be ready to teleport after her if she uses a crystal."

Keh-keh nodded and pulled one of her teleport crystals from her pouch. She vaulted gracefully up a tree and onto one of the branches. There she sat, her eyes on the cabin.

"Do you have a plan, Seriyuha?" asked Lyle.

"We need to show Asuna just how many people care about her well-being," said Seriyuha. "I'm going to meet with the KoB and tell them to send as many people as they can spare to meet with us here tomorrow morning. As for the rest of you, contact as many of the other clearers as you know and have them do the same."

The Summer Knights acknowledged their instructions, and returned to the Teleport Gate as a group. This walk was considerably longer than the one to the cabin had been. Razler's heart was heavy, and not even the serenity of the virtual landscape around them did much to ease him. The truth of the matter was, even if they could somehow get Asuna's fight back, she wasn't _wrong_. Without Kirito, they were facing hard times like never before. What could they possibly do to prove Asuna wrong? He glanced over to his big sister, and saw her walking with her head bowed and eyes narrowed. Was she thinking the same? The others around him looked just as preoccupied in their own ways. Only Seriyuha strode on as if nothing had changed in their situation.

He almost missed having Keh-keh around just then.

Upon reaching the teleport gate, Seriyuha immediately teleported up to Granzam, the city on the fifty-fifth floor where the Knights of the Blood made their headquarters. The rest of the knights scattered to various other floors, and Hinoka and Razler teleported back to their home floor to get some space in which to think. They walked automatically toward the nearest bench and sat down, side by by.

"I'll pass a message along to Agil and Nishida," Hinoka said after a moment of quiet. "Neither of them claimed to know Asuna all that well, but we're better off getting in touch with as many people as possible."

She spent a few minutes fiddling through her menus and typing out messages. Once both were sent, she looked toward Razler, as if expecting something.

"I don't have any other real ideas, if that's what you're thinking," he said after a few seconds. "I only really know other members of the Knights."

Hinoka nodded her face etched in concentration. "I don't... hmm... Maybe we could figure out some people she might know if we could get our hands on some of her items? Her uniform was customized, I know that much - she complained about it a couple times, loudly. Keh-keh knows how to check an item for its stats, like who made it, right?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Razler muttered. Hinoka wasn't wrong though, Asuna's gear was rumored to be of high quality, even by the standards of being a clearer. "I think Asuna mentioned a few times that her rapier was player-made. Actually, she never had her equipment break on her during raids or boss fights as far as I can remember, so she must have had a pretty good blacksmith helping her with her gear."

"Nice one, Shirou," Hinoka said brightly as she sent another private message. She paused a moment after sending it, frowning. "I just hope that she doesn't get even _more_ upset if Keh-keh steals her sword for a while..."

Razler groaned and rubbed his eyes. Of course she could do _that_ too.

After only a few minutes, Hinoka looked up and checked her menus. "Lambent Light, crafted by the player Lisbeth."

That name! He'd heard it before, several times! But where? He stared at the ground and forced himself to think, willing himself to remember.

"OH!" Razler gasped loudly, snapping upright on the bench. "That was Kirito's blacksmith!"

"How do you know that?" asked Hinoka.

"Apparently she said he had to advertise her services as an agreement for her becoming his personal blacksmith. He'd slip in her name every now and again whenever the subject of equipment came up while we were all planning for Labyrinth bosses. I think she was based on..."

He frowned, searching his memory. Kirito had mentioned the floor number a few times, but what _was_ it?

"Uhh, I think it was the... fortieth floor? Somewhere on the forties, I'm sure."

"It's probably," Hinoka said slowly, "floor forty-eight... That floor's supposed to be really good for production classes because there's a lot of waterwheels."

"And how do _you_ know _that_?"

"I like to look around for player-made items every now and again, it's usually high-quality stuff," Hinoka said as she stood up.

They moved quickly again, just as they had on the way to the cabin, and transitioned to floor forty-eight. The atmosphere there was similar to floor twenty-two; tranquil and simple, but it was a little more industrious. Workshops with waterwheels attached stretched as far as the eye could see. Rivers were also commonplace on this floor, which went without saying given what they were powering.

"So why're these waterwheels such a big deal?" asked Razler.

"Better-quality production activities require sources of power," said Hinoka. "I've heard rumors that you can mine rare stones that give off actual electricity, but apparently windmills and waterwheels are the big thing among producers for now. Maybe there'll be something even better on one of the last floors? Who knows."

"And suddenly this world being a realistic fantasy setting becomes a pain," Razler muttered as he fell in step behind Hinoka.

With the afternoon sun hanging overhead, the siblings spent some time asking around about Lizbeth's shop – being careful to avoid asking anybody who seemed like they themselves might be a blacksmith – and were eventually pointed toward a player-owned house at the top of a small terrace. Attached to the side of the house was a smaller building, from the chimney of which smoke was billowing. A sure sign of smithing being done. They hurried on.

Razler and Hinoka let themselves in, and immediately caught sight of a small pigtailed girl shrieking at a rigid blank-faced young woman - a sure mark of an NPC. Razler and Hinoka exchanged glances. Arguing with an NPC? Few things were more one-sided and pointless.

He saw nobody besides the two arguing (or not arguing, in the NPC's case) so it seemed Lisbeth was indisposed of at the moment. Shrugging, Razler paused to look at the store around him. Various weapons were displayed proudly on the walls, in cases, and on surfaces in the shop. No doubt Lisbeth's work. Though she had a variety of weapons on show, she seemed to have a particular interest in swords. Longswords, broadswords, rapiers, katanas, curved blades. He could immediately tell how Asuna and Kirito had come to require her services.

The little girl got louder, bringing Razler's attention back to her. She was screaming away at the NPC, arms waving. "Just get Lisbeth!" she cried.

"I'm terribly sorry, but the proprietor is currently away. Is there anything I could do to help you in the meanwhile? This shop carries only the finest merchandise!"

"Can you tell me when Kirito will come again, then?"

"I'm sorry, this store doesn't carry the item you described."

Razler and Hinoka exchanged looks.

"Excuse me," Hinoka said as she stepped forward. "We'd really like to meet Lisbeth too, do you know when she'll be available?"

"I'm terribly sorry, but the proprietor did not tell me when she would return. Is there anything I could do to help you in the meanwhile? This shop carries only the finest merchandise!"

Realizing that this was going nowhere fast, Razler turned to the customer instead.

"You said that you were hoping to meet Kirito?" he asked. She was probably just one of his fans, but there was a chance she actually knew him. Whether or not she could help with Asuna, she deserved to know the truth.

The young girl – possibly a little older than Keh-keh – turned to him, her face red. Looking at her, Razler was briefly seized by an urge to reach out and ruffle her pigtailed hair, but he suspected she'd just get angry. Then he caught sight of the light-blue feathered dragon perched on her shoulder.

No way.

"S-silica? You're Silica!?"

There was only one player he knew of who'd managed to tame a feathered dragon!

The girl took a step back, her expression turning from angry to troubled in a flash. "Oh no, you're not one of my fans, are you?"

"Errr."

This was not going well. Razler stood where he was, words tumbling through his mind, before Hinoka sighed and stepped forward, shoving Razler back. "Don't mind my brother, he's an idiot and he's wanted a dragon pet ever since word got out that you tamed yours. He is, unfortunately, one of your fans, but I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Oh c'mon," muttered Razler his cheeks hot, "do you have any idea how awesome that would be, having a dragon with you all day long?"

Silica laughed and plucked Pina off of her shoulder with both hands before hugging her tight. Pina gave a high-pitched chirp and brushed nuzzled against Silica's chest. "It's not _just_ awesome!"

"You know Kirito?" Hinoka asked quietly.

Razler shuddered, his gaze darting briefly to his sister before returning to Silica.

"Yeah, do you?" Silica asked brightly, apparently not picking up on Hinoka's tone.

"He saved me and Pina a long time ago. Ever since then I've been training hard and then I heard that Lisbeth does his smithing, so I wanted to show him how much better I've gotten and the amazing new trick Pina's learned!"

Razler turned aside and clenched his fists. Now they'd have to crush Silica's enthusiasm too.

 _Damn Kayaba_.

"That's... going to be," Hinoka said slowly, her gaze straying away from Silica.

Silica gave her a questioning look, but the ring of a bell drew everyone's attention to the back of the shop, where a pink-haired young woman emerged. Razler immediately assumed she was another service NPC, but she was moving and acting like any other player - fluidly. His wrong first impression was the fault of the young woman's bizarre outfit, which made her look almost like a waitress.

"Phew, sorry to keep everyone waiting!" she said brightly, a cheerful smile on her face. No, she _had_ to be Lisbeth. "I was just finishing up a new weapon, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Oh, yes!" Silica said as she walked toward Lisbeth. "When will Kirito be here next? I've heard you're his smith, and I wanted to talk to him about something really important!"

Lisbeth's expression twitched into a frown for just a second before she mastered herself. No doubt a practiced reaction. "I can pass a message along if you'd like, but Kirito is a very busy man and he has a lot of fans -"

"I'm not a fan, I know him personally, he saved me once!"

"Yes, he seems to do that often, but-"

Hinoka strode forward and cleared her throat loudly. "Actually, I had something I needed to say about Kirito," she said.

Silica continued chattering away for a few moments longer, but Lisbeth looked only at Hinoka, frowning. "What happened, is he okay?"

Razler sighed. Here it was.

Hinoka opened her mouth to speak but shut it right away. Her gaze darted this way and that, and Lisbeth continued staring at her, looking increasingly worried by the second.

Razler placed a hand over her Hinoka's shoulder and stepped forward. "He... fell on the seventy-fifth floor. I'm sorry that-"

"No!" shrieked Silica. "That can't be true! Kirito's too good at this game to... to..."

She shook her heard furiously, Pina giving troubled cries. "It can't be true! That's all there is to it!"

But Lisbeth was looking through her menus, her whole body quivering like a leaf. When she finally had the last menu opened, she froze for a moment, her eyes wide. "K-kirito..." she whispered. She stepped back against the wall and slumped to the ground, her eyes glassy and pointed toward the ceiling.

Hinoka briefly explained what had happened on the seventy-fifth floor to the two girls. Silica eventually broke down in sobs and collapsed onto her knees, while Lisbeth continued to stare at the ceiling, quiet tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry you had to hear about this this way," Hinoka concluded. "I wish this weren't the truth just as much as I'm sure you do, but it is."

"No, thank you," Lisbeth said quietly. "Thank you for telling me. It's better... that I know what happened... This is better than spending every day, wondering why he isn't coming back... Whether he just removed me from his friends list and found a better smith..."

"He wouldn't have done that," said Razler. "He was a better man."

"He was," Lisbeth said as she stumbled to get back on her feet. Hinoka went to her and helped her up. Lisbeth remained standing, though her legs shook. "I," she said as she turned toward the back door. "I need a while to myse-"

"Wait, we need help with Asuna!" cried Razler.

Lisbeth spun back around and nearly ran up to him, her eyes wide. "Asuna! How is she handling this!? Is she okay!?"

Hinoka shook her head. "She's not doing well. She's shut herself up in her house on the twenty-second floor and we're afraid she'll-."

Lisbeth gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth. "No! No, no, no! Asuna, you can't! I'm going to-"

"We're already gathering everyone who knows her that we can find," said Razler, "we're hoping that if we can show her that there's enough people here that care about her, it might give her back her will to live."

"I'll help! I refuse to be left out of whatever plan you have!" Lisbeth said instantly. "When're we going to meet with her?"

"Tomorrow morning, at eight am," said Hinoka. "Open your minimap and I'll show you you."

While Hinoka marked the location of the cabin on Lisbeth's minimap, Silica suddenly roused from the other side of the room.

"Is... this Asuna..." she mumbled quietly.

Razler jumped, having briefly forgotten she was even still in the shop. Silica walked closer, holding Pina tight. The little dragon looked up at him, an almost pouting look on her face. Was she able to read her master's feelings?

"Is Asuna someone important to him?"

"She was his most important person in this world," Razler said quietly.

"Then," Silica began, quietly and with her gaze on her feet, "let me help too, please. I don't know Asuna at all but..." she looked up, face flushed. "Kirito saved my life once! And he helped me get Pina back! There has to be something I can do to make it up to him..."

"Thank you," Razler said, smiling at her.

"I'll message everyone I know that knows her," said Lisbeth.

"Every person we can get to come tomorrow will help," said Hinoka. She glanced at Silica, and then back to Lisbeth. "Thank you both for being so strong even with the horrible news we've brought you. I hope - I'm _sure_ that tomorrow will go much better."

Lisbeth nodded and went into the back part of her shop again, the door closing with a leaden sound. Silica thanked them for telling her what had happened and excused herself, her steps heavy and slow.

Alone, Hinoka nodded to Razler and then jerked her head toward the door, and he took the hint. They left the heavy atmosphere of Lisbeth's shop behind, and made their way back to the teleport gate. They spent the rest of the day attempting to contact all the other clearers they knew for more support, but they only heard back from one of the members of Fuurinkazan, Klein's guild. From him they heard that Klein was in the middle of furious training to take his mind off of Kirito's passing, and that he would pass news of their request to meet with Asuna to the rest of the guild.

Razler and Hinoka could only guess at how well Klein might have known Asuna, but they had been able to surmise from Kirito's farewell to him that they, at least, were friends, and they also knew that Klein was the honest and honorable type. It was likely that he'd show up in the same gesture of solidarity that Silica had promised. So that was one more likely to show. By the time they had finally finished that, the sun was going down, and so the pair chose to return to their home, hoping that the other Knights would have been able to find more help.

The walk to their house from the teleport gate seemed to stretch for ages. Razler trudged along, feeling more tired than he had at the end of days in which they'd fought labyrinth bosses.

The last two days had been like none other before...

Just as they had the night before, Razler and Hinoka sat at their living room, both quiet. Razler stared at the table, his thoughts racing. He had spent so much time focused on helping Asuna, on reclaiming her will to go on, that he'd barely had time to think of what might come after. Klein was training... for the next twenty-five floors, no doubt. He could only imagine how horrible they would be, and they would have to make that climb without Kirito, without his dual-wielding.

Razler shook his head slowly. He wasn't sure how they would make it. It was ironic – he was trying to bring back hope to Asuna, but he kept none for himself.

Once again he went to bed earlier than usual that night, as did Hinoka. When dawn finally case he felt worse than he had the day before, and only his hope that they'd manage to rouse Asuna from her depressed state got him out of bed. He and his sister hurried to the teleport gate as quickly as they could, and then to the lakeside cabin where Asuna once lived with Kirito. When they arrived they found Lisbeth, Seriyuha, Nishida, and a few of the knights already waiting for them. Lisbeth was fidgeting, wringing her hands, and couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the cabin. Nishida, on the other hand, was watching the lake with barely any movement at all.

Razler sat down on the grass and began waiting, his heart hammering as the seconds passed. Obviously Asuna had to still be inside or else Seriyuha would have mentioned something, so that just left how she'd react. If they managed to gather enough players, surely that would have an effect on Asuna? Or was she too far gone to care any longer?

Soon after Razler and Hinoka arrived, a large number of players wearing the Knights of the Blood uniform showed up. One of them - probably somebody important - chatted briefly with Seriyuha, thanking her again for arranging the event. Within moments they were followed by the members of Fuurinkazan, Klein leading them.

Klein looked around briefly as he drew near, and he turned first to the person closest to him, which happened to be Hinoka.

"Who's in charge of this-"

"That's me," Seriyuha said as she strode forward to him. "I arranged for this."

"Oh yeah, I've seen you around," muttered Klein. He looked up briefly at the cabin. "She's in there now? What're we waiting for, then?"

"Everybody else to arrive, we'll have a bigger impact on her the more people who are here," she said. "Thanks for coming, by the way."

"That bastard would come back to haunt me if I didn't do what I could to help Asuna," said Klein.

Razler smiled despite himself. He knew few people who would refer to Kirito in such a casual manner.

Silica was next to arrive. She walked up briskly first, Pina held loose in her arms, but as she drew near and saw the gathering crowd her pace slowed and her grip on Pina tightened. Seriyuha came out to greet her, a warm smile on her face, and she actually knelt down before her once there was barely two yards' distance between her and the girl.

"You're Silica, aren't you? Razler and Hinoka told me that you'd be coming out this morning," she said kindly.

"Y-yes, they told me about... about what happened..."

"It's a wonderful thing that you're doing this without even knowing Asuna," Seriyuha said. She got to her feet, but continued looking down at Silica. "I'm sure Kirito would be proud to see you now."

"I'd be happier seeing him again," Silica said quietly as she maneuvered around Seriyuha. Seriyuha's gaze remained on her, until finally she returned to her original spot.

Up next were a few more players that Razler knew to be clearers, but little more than that. They mostly kept to the groups they came in. Lastly, and to his surprise, a few members of the Divine Dragon Alliance arrived. They remained the furthest from the Knights of the Blood members Razler looked out across the huge number of assembled players – some seventy-odd in total – and wondered whether Asuna had really touched the lives of even more than half of them. Surely a good number had only come to make certain the Flash would continue working alongside the clearers? Either way, if this kind of gathering didn't demonstrate to her how important she was to the rest of the players, he wasn't sure what else would.

A few more minutes passed without anybody arrived - by then it was tweny-four minutes past eight - and Seriyuha began walking back toward the cabin. Once there, she cleared her throat and bowed low. "I appreciate all of you coming on such short notice. I'm sure most of you understand what we're gathered here for, but I'll explain this briefly."

She gestured to the house. "The Flash has locked herself up in her home, convinced that her life is without point or hope now that Kirito is no longer among us. I'm confident that, when she sees how many have answered this call, she'll realize how wrong she-"

Keh-keh flipped off of the roof of the cabin and began lockpicking the door, earning a dirty look from her guildmaster. "C'mon, Seriyuha, I'm pretty sure everyone would like to see Asuna _before_ the two weeks Kayaba gave her are up."

To Razler's surprise, a low murmur of agreement and a few nods actually sprang up among the assembled crowd, and Seriyuha stepped away, a bitter look on her face. Keh-keh unlocked the door and swung it wide open, crying out, "Hey Asuna, your pizza's here!"

Lisbeth practically leapt onto the porch and shoved Keh-keh aside in her haste to get into the house. Razler heard some confused screams from within, followed by Lisbeth roughly dragging Asuna through the door by the arm.

"How could you even _think_ of just giving up on me? On everyone!?" Lisbeth was screaming, angry tears in her eyes. "Don't you realize how many people that would hurt!?"

Asuna ignored Lisbeth, and was staring at the crowd that was gathered on her doorstep. "E-everyone? What's everyone doing here?"

One of the Knights of the Blood members – the same one that Razler had assumed to be a leader and had spoken with Seriyuha – stepped up and nodded to Asuna. "Commander Asuna, the Knights of the Blood won't abandon their own so easily. We still believe in you."

"Everyone here does," said another of the KoB.

Asuna blinked, and nodded. "Thank you," she said numbly.

"My guild and I called for everyone to meet here just hours ago," said Seriyuha. "The fact that everyone agreed to come this morning with so little notice should be a sign."

"He wouldn't want you to die for him," said Klein. "He'd try find a way to die all over again to make up for it, believe me."

"There's no need for despair, Asuna," cried Samson, "Seriyuha's plan working so well is proof like none other that the Lord is still on our side!"

"Ohhh, is he gonna smite Kayaba for us?" Keh-keh said from atop Asuna's house.

"The point is," said Seriyuha, loudly, "that all of these people want to help see you through this time of hardship, Asuna. Nobody's asking you to return to the front lines immediately, but please fight through this with everything you've got."

Lisbeth took Asuna's hands in hers, and looked her in the eye. "Please, Asuna, _don't give up_. Kirito wouldn't want that. We both know that."

Asuna looked down, her body shaking. "Everyone... thank you all," she said quietly. She gently pried Lisbeth's hands off of her own and stepped forward, past Seriyuha. "I'm so sorry that I worried all of you. I just... lost sight of things..."

"It's understandable. You've been through a lot already," said Seriyuha.

Asuna shook her head and balled her hands into fists. "But I... I think I'll be okay now - I promise. The Comman – Kayaba Akihiko – we _will_ defeat him." She raised her fist high and called out, "He's not going to get away with deceiving us!"

The members of the Knights of the Blood did as she did and gave wordless shouts, and even a few of the others who weren't associated with the Knights did likewise. Razler realized he had even balled his own fist. His heart was pounding again - but not from fear. He scrambled onto his feet, unable to sit still.

Asuna turned to Seriyuha and gave a low bow. "Thank you so much. For everything. You arranged this, didn't you?"

Seriyuha smiled and shook her head. "No, I should be the one thanking you for being so strong. Kirito's loss is hard even on those of us who didn't know him at all. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you."

"It's definitely not easy," Asuna said quietly and with her gaze on the ground. "I'd like to have our guilds work together to search the seventy-sixth floor, to make up for... lost time. It's been two days since we cleared the seventy-fifth floor and we haven't even begun-"

"No, some players have been exploring the next floor," said Hinoka. "And we went there for a while. We can probably coordinate with some of the others players to help speed things up."

"That sounds like a great idea," said Asuna.

"And of course the Summer Knights will be willing to cooperate with the Knights of the Blood," said Seriyuha. "I'll contact you this evening to arrange strategy discussions."

Seriyuha stepped forward and extended her hand to Asuna, and the swordswoman in white took it without any hesitation. Some of the Knights – from both guilds – cheered out or clapped at the gesture.

And then Asuna suddenly rounded on Keh-keh, her hands on her hips.

"And give me back my sword already, you little brat!"

Razler stared at Keh-keh dumbly.

No way.

"Keh-keh!" Hinoka shrieked, "y _ou didn't give Asuna her rapier back_!?"

Keh-keh gave the others a blank look and pulled Asuna's prized rapier from her inventory. "What, you didn't say anything about giving the thing back when I was done with it."

"Hinoka dear, would you mind _explaining_ why you arranged with Keh-keh to _steal Asuna's rapier_?" Seriyuha said, a blank look on her face.

"You stole Lambent Light from Asuna!?" cried Lisbeth. "That was a gift, _I made it for her_!"

"I... I wanted... I thought..." Hinoka looked desperately from Asuna to Lisbeth to Seriyuha, all of whom were glaring daggers at her. "R-Razler was part of it too!" she cried, shakily pointing toward her brother.

Razler could only stand there as the four women gave him various looks that he wasn't fond of, reflecting on the unfairness of the situation as he tried to think of a way out. He suspected that Hinoka would probably try to find a way to share blame even if he pointed out that having Keh-keh steal the sword was entirely her own idea. Maybe he should just leave and talk to Seriyuha in private about it? Nah, that would ruin the mood - or at least it would wreck it a little more than it already was. Then his eyes fell on Silica, who just looked thoroughly confused.

That was it!

"Hey Silica!" he cried loudly and quickly, "show us that trick you said Pina learned, the one you mentioned at Lisbeth's shop! Right now? _Please_?"

Silica's expression brightened after a moment's uncertainty and she pulled Pina from her shoulder and onto her arms. "Oh, okay! Sure thing!"

She turned and made her way through the crowd of players. Where was she going? She shouldn't have needed much room to show off something her little dragon could do. Was she trying to sneak away from the insane situation? Razler sighed and turned back to face Asuna, Seriyuha, Hinoka, and Lisbeth.

"Stop trying to look for a way out, Razler!" cried Hinoka. "Accept responsibility for this horrible thing that was totally your fault!"

"Well for starters, _Sis_ -"

"Pina, Transcend!" cried Silica.

A burst of light erupted from behind the rest of the players, and most everyone cried out and shielded their eyes. A flurry of light blue feathers were swirling upward like a cyclone, concealing Silica and Pina. All they could see was a great light and a bright shape rearing up in the center of the blizzard of feathers. The feathers and the light faded away after a few seconds, and a chorus of gasps and alarmed shouts began to surge through the crowd. Even Razler took a step back, his breath catching in his throat.

A dragon was looming before them. A giant, feathery dragon, with fangs as large and keen as swords, a fierce-looking horn sprouting from its forhead, and a vast wingspan that could probably send them all flying with a single flap. The beast looked down at them, judging them with its great red eyes. Was it about to attack? Razler was amongst those who drew weapons and began to charge, but Silica sprang forth from the shadow of the dragon, her arms spread wide.

"Wait, stop, it's Pina! The dragon's Pina! It's safe, I promise!" she cried loudly.

The players slowed to an uncertain stop. Sheathing his sword, Razler looked up at the dragon. The color of the feathers matched, as did the eye color and the twin tails, but was this great beast really Pina? The same tiny dragon that rode on Silica's shoulder?

As if sensing doubt, Silica smiled and turned to reach up toward the great dragon. The giant beast sank low and nuzzled its head into her arms. With a gentle nudge, it sent Silica off her feet, but she just laughed and beamed as it pressed its head against her body.

"See?" Silica cried out without taking her eyes off her dragon. "It's still the same Pina, she's just giant and awesome now!"

There was no denying that Silica was right, but...

Razler stared numbly, hardly believing what he was seeing. He'd seen a few draconic enemies but he estimated that Pina dwarfed them all in size. He'd heard that pets became bigger and stronger with time and good raising, but Pina in her current state looked like she could battle with a Labyrinth boss and hold her own.

"Sis?" he asked.

"I've... never heard of this before," Hinoka said quietly. "I've never seen anything about pets getting this huge in the game's source code or in the Beta... This shouldn't be happening."

He wasn't sure what was going on, that much was obvious. But Razler understood he was seeing something amazing, something that shouldn't be.

This was just like that day that he watched Kirito fighting Heathcliff in Grandzam. The day that he saw Kirito publically unveiling his Dual-Wielding, the ability that shouldn't have existed. Pina shouldn't have been able to morph to such a great size, but she had.

"You mentioned something about a miracle, Lyle?" whispered Razler.

* * *

Most of Volume 2 is pointless in the long run of the actual plot, as it's all just side stories. Red-Nosed Reindeer mostly serves to demonstrate the backstory that Kirito described to Asuna in Volume 1 (and confuse the ever loving hell out of people with the Divine Stone of Returning Soul when the light novel was adapted to an anime), Morning Dew Girl was actually important because it introduced Yui, but The Black Swordsman and Warmth of the Heart were the worst when it came to this problem.

Warmth of the Heart was actively bothersome about this, as Kirito accomplishes nothing specific with Dark Repulsor (Heathcliff destroys it during the final battle, and Kirito finishes him off with Lambent Light, Asuna's rapier, instead), but Lisbeth was a natural to move the plot of helping Asuna along.

I definitely wanted to find a way to use Silica in this fanfic - I think she's a pretty excellent example of a more "ordinary" player amongst all the super-stars we see in SAO, and her relationship with Pina is adorable. Also, it seems appropriate that two of the lives Kirito once saved would together become one of the ten who would take up his mantle.

Anyways, please take time out to review! Constructive criticism is especially welcome!


	4. Condemnation

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

 _It looked like it was all over for us during that first month of the game. Mostly because that was almost exactly how long it took for us to clear the first floor. One whole month to clear a single floor; it wasn't a surprise that people thought the worst and assumed that it would take us that long for each floor to come. Ultimately, the first floor was actually just the one we spent the most time on, with most floors above it being cleared in half the time or less._

 _It didn't make things any better when that was also when the most players died. Almost two-thousand just in that first month... Really, we were all just trying to learn the game back then. Mistakes – a lot of terrible ones – were going to happen, and it was going to be slow going. Nobody_ really _knew what they were doing, except for the beta testers._

 _It wasn't that surprising, really: the first part of any video game is usually either the easiest or the hardest, before the player has established a full party or developed any decent skills for their characters. For us it was much the same way, and that was even before the KoB, the Divine Dragon Alliance, or The Army had formed. I heard that the players who assembled to slay Illfang the Kobold Lord were a pretty rag-tag bunch who happened to heed the summons of a particularly charismatic individual, and nobody could call them a very united or skillful._

 _So, they were like us, the people who were going to later form the Summer Knights._

* * *

Shirou awoke to his alarm, warning him that it was Seven AM, and time to wake up. He lay for a while under the heavy blankets of his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

December First, 2022. Almost a full month since they'd become stuck in their virtual hell.

If there would be any hope for rescue from the outside, it felt like it should have already happened. Was it possible that Sword Art Online's source code was too well protected to hack? It couldn't have been, not if Chigusa had casually read it for fun.

But in reality, he'd asked her about whether rescue from the outside seemed likely, and she told him that the government would probably avoid trying to hack either the game or the NerveGears if it began to look like it would be difficult to manage. Nobody would want to risk taking on responsibility for the deaths of the remaining players in Sword Art Online.

Meanwhile, he, Chigusa, and Seriyuha tried to keep their ears out for any news of players clearing the first floor. Shirou had heard a few times that progress was actually being made on the Labyrinth, the dungeon guarding the boss monster of the floor. Chigusa had told him and Seriyuha that defeating the boss that dwelt in the deepest room of the Labyrinth would clear the way to the next floor, allowing players to teleport to that floor from any point onward in Sword Art Online's runtime. But even after a week or two, there was no news of the floor being cleared. It sounded as though no actual attempts on the boss were being made.

Could it be that the other players were scared?

During their first few days, Shirou had privately expected that he and Chigusa would part ways with Seriyuha sooner or later, but the woman wasn't in any rush to leave them and go her own way, nor were the siblings longing to be rid of her. Her decisions on the first night had worked out, for they reached Horunka Village - the next one after the Starting City - without any mishaps. Between Seriyuha's supervision and Chigusa's knowledge the game, their adventures on the first floor had proceeded smoothly, and they were currently making their base camp in Tulse, a village up in the northern mountains. It was one of the furthest settlements from the Starting City, and a generally lonely corner of the first floor in general.

Seriyuha had stressed the trio becoming as strong as possible as efficiently as possible, but – to both Shirou and Chigusa's confusion – that didn't involve setting foot in the labyrinth. She'd vehemently denied the idea every time Chigusa raised it, insisting that they focus on growing stronger before doing something as risky as exploring it. Shirou and Chigusa weren't sure of Seriyuha's endgame plan, but they agreed that she'd yet to give them a reason not to trust her. They'd work with whatever cautious strategy she'd formulated, at least for the time being.

Shirou parted the curtains of the room he and Chigusa shared in the Tulse inn and blinked as the dazzling sunlight sparkle from the snow outside stung his eyes. Tulse very much looked like something out a cliche Christmas card; rustic log buildings with a thick blanket of snow atop them and piled along the sides of the village roads, oil lamps, and pine trees as far as the eye could see. It was a charming enough place, and the cold nights made the inn common room fire all the cozier.

And on that note, Shirou wanted to get down to it before they set off. He was wearing thick woolen clothes - purchased in town - to sleep in, but he still shivered slightly.

"Hey, Sis!" he called over to Chigusa, who was still sleeping.

Chigusa mumbled something incoherent and turned over in her bed.

Rolling his eyes, Shirou walked over to her and began shaking her shoulder. Chigusa tried to shake him off in her sleep, but after a few moments she finally woke with a great yawn.

"What, I set my alarm," she groaned sleepily.

"Too late you did," said Shirou, "the last two days Seriyuha beat us downstairs. How're we gonna ever beat this game if you can't beat your blankets."

"They win, they're too cozy for me," Chigusa said as she laid back down. "You have to go on without me, I'm done for."

"Oh yes, here lies Chigusa Misaki. She died as she lived; sleeping. RIP in peace," muttered Shirou.

Chigusa growled and threw her pillow at him. Then, finally, she pulled herself free of her covers. Both siblings changed into their ordinary gear - the only reason sharing a room was practical was thanks to the fact that undressing wasn't a a required step in changing clothes in the virtual world - and made for the inn common room. It was a low-ceiling wide room set with a number of tables and with a large roaring fire blazing at the center of it. Being free of windows, it was lit by several torches hanging from the ceiling. In a more realistic setting Shirou was certain the room would be a lot smokier than it was even with the chimney hole above the central fire, but he was thankful for the break in realism.

He was also thankful for the fact that the room had few people in it, and none of them were Seriyuha. Chigusa's knowledge of the game had largely kept the trio ahead of the proverbial pack when it came to the rest of the player population, so they rarely found themselves bumping too many shoulders as they went about their business. Even by their own past standards they were well away from the rest of the player base up in Tulse, and the only other players sharing the common room with them were two other groups of players, three and four in number and very likely all beta testers themselves. Another group had seemingly vanished since the previous day, replaced by a single young girl who was sitting by herself at one of the corner tables.

One of the NPCs who worked at the inn came by and took their request for breakfast, and handed them some hot coffee. The second day of the game, over breakfast, Chigusa had said something about food in-game artificially triggering bodily reactions, but the only thing Shirou really knew was that the coffee tasted like muddy water but it got him going and warmed him up. How he managed to get hungry in the online world was a mystery to him, but virtual food sated it all the same.

One of the other player groups left the common room, and the general din of player chatter quieted a little. While they waited for Seriyuha - or their food, whichever came first - the siblings sat next to one another at their table, quiet reigning between them.

"So," Chigusa said quietly.

Shirou tightened his grip on his mug. He could already guess where this talk was going to go.

"We're still inside."

"You were the one who said the government probably wouldn't be able to help," Shirou said quietly.

Chigusa sighed lightly. "I know. But I still _hoped_. And hey, maybe they'll catch Kayaba, that's always possible..."

She looked down at her mug, fingering it without taking a sip. Shirou watched her, wondering what she was thinking about.

"Are you... are you doing okay?" she asked.

Shirou hesitated to reply. There was a lot of ways he could take or answer that question. "How do you mean?" he eventually asked. Leaving her with silence for too long would torture her.

"I... just..."

She looked down, her eyes and mouth shut tight. Shirou watched her quietly, unsure whether he should reach out to her or not. It had to be about being trapped in the game.

"D-do," she whispered, "do you-"

"Did you two sleep well?"

Seriyuha had come downstairs at one point or another, and was walking briskly toward them. Chigusa and Shirou both bolted upright and scooted away from each other just slightly.

"Oh yes, absolutely!" Chigusa chimed in rapidly. Shirou merely nodded.

"That's good," said Seriyuha.

There was no way that Seriyuha wouldn't notice the artificiality in Chigusa's tone, but she gave no indication that she had. The NPC inn worker returned with their tasteless eggs and toast just as Seriyuha took her seat at the table, across from the siblings. They all quickly forced the food down. Meals in SAO were - at least for them - a rather brief and nearly pointless affair. Shirou had missed being able to enjoy his meals at first, but now he was almost used to it. Throughout the meal Seriyuha and Chigusa both largely kept their heads down and their attention on their food, but Shirou couldn't help but wonder whether they were determined not to address the short-lived private conversation the siblings were starting to have. Sighing, he worked to finish off his meal quickly.

He would talk to Chigusa about whatever was bothering her that night.

"So," Seriyuha said once their plates were cleaned, "today I wanted to look into that rumor we heard from that old man NPC yesterday, about the cave where all the spiders lurk."

"Yeah," said Chigusa. "I never did that quest myself during the beta, but apparently the boss inside of it is called Magmanta the Great White Spider. It's supposed to be one of the most dangerous non-Labyrinth bosses on the first floor. _Hopefully_ it hasn't been taken since yesterday."

"Do you think it'll be too much for us?" asked Seriyuha.

"Nah, not if we go about it the right way," Chigusa said without hesitation. "Probably it won't be _that_ easy with just the three of us, but it's still a floor one non-Labyrinth boss."

"And the reward should still be worth it," said Shirou.

"Exactly," said Seriyuha.

"What about once we've finished Magmanta?" asked Chigusa. "It didn't sound like there's much else to do in the Tulse Mountains and we'll have to do a lot of backtracking to go anywhere else."

"One thing at a time," Seriyuha said firmly as she got to her feet.

Chigusa pouted at Seriyuha's back as the older woman made for the front room of the inn. There, the trio paid their dues to stay another night and put on their heavier cold weather gear, which they'd picked up at the foothills of the Tulse Mountains in an NPC shop. Shirou would have preferred just turning around and going somewhere else to avoid the cost at the time, but Chigusa promised him that having adequate gear for the cold (or hot) weather would become a must for them sooner or later. Extreme weather, if improperly equipped for, slowly drained health in SAO, according to her.

Properly dressed for the weather, they went out into the crisp mountain morning, and were immediately blasted with a wave of not-unendurable cold. Shirou shivered as they moved quickly toward the general store, wishing to himself that of all the things they could have gotten wrong in making the game, adverse temperature was one of the things he'd have put at the top of the list. It was warmer inside the NPC general store - another wood log building, much like the inn - and Shirou breathed into his chilled hands as Seriyuha stepped up to talk with the shopkeeper.

The NPC minding the store was your generic old man fantasty cliche, and Seriyuha coaxed him through his dialogue until he brought up the crystalline cavern that had recently become infested by white spiders looking to escape from the encroaching winter cold. Apparently the cave was an important location in the town's ingame lore for mining valuable gemstones, and his business was suffering with the spiders keeping out mining operations. Their task was to kill the master of the white spiders and retrieve a certain ore stone from the innermost depths of the cave as proof of their accomplishment.

They'd spoken with the NPC by chance the day before, but too late for Seriyuha's liking, so they had to turn down his request at the time. As they weren't sure whether the quest was limited-time or not, they were relieved to hear his dialogue unchanged from the day previous. After Seriyuha accepted the quest both Shirou and Chigusa checked their minimaps, and found a location a fair distance out of town and further up the mountain check marked. It looked like an hour or two's walk was ahead of them.

Their business done, Seriyuha led them through the north end of town, and they began their ascent. They kept to where the snow pack was lower and easier to traverse, but going up the mountain wasn't easy no matter which way they went. Luckily, it seemed that the creators of the virtual world at least spared them having to worry about air thinning with altitude, though that might have just been because of Aincrad's nature.

They moved along at a fair pace despite the challenge of going up the mountain, chatting and planning the rest of their day as they went, when suddenly the snow ahead began to shift on its own. Seriyuha immediately paused and held her arm out, though Chigusa and Shirou had stopped walking as soon as she did. The snow pack rustled a moment later, until a white shape darted out from the pile and onto the road ahead of them. A Snow Wolf. Seriyuha stepped forward, her kite shield held up and her long axe ready to strike, but Chigusa and Shirou faced to the sides, backs against one another.

These creatures had given them some trouble on their original way up the mountain. Over their first few days working together, they'd honed a simple but effective combat strategy that relied on Seriyuha attracting and tanking abuse while Chigusa used the long range her spear afforded to take advantage of enemies giving their focus to her and Shirou covered their flanks against attacks from other direction. Against the disorganized animals they encountered in the rest of the first floor their strategy was sufficient, but these wolves were different. One would leap out into the open to draw attention, while other members of the pack would take a stealthier approach from the sides. Their first time fighting these wolves quickly turned into a confused brawl when they were caught off guard by three different attackers coming at them from the sides and behind.

And sure enough, Shirou could see the three ambushing wolves slinking up around them, moving slowly and low to the ground. He raised his buckler and tightened his grip on his saber, getting a feel for its weight; his original longsword hadn't felt right in his hand as he continued to practice with it. Suddenly the wolves crouched low - a sure sign of their imminent attack. Two leaped in from the sides, as did the one in front that had caught their attention. Shirou raised his buckler to meet the wolf's pounce and pushed it back, throwing the beast onto its side. Before it could recover her unleashed Horizontal on it, cleaving it and scattering it into particles. Another wolf lunged into Chigusa, who caught its gnashing maw with the shaft of her spear. With a twist she tossed the wolf aside, and with a thrust she slew it. Chigusa turned to finish off the last wolf - the one that didn't join in the first strike - while Shirou checked to make sure Seriyuha was fine. The older woman had already dispatched the first wolf, and Chigusa finished the last moments later.

The trio received their first rewards of experience and Cor for the day.

"Well done as usual you two," Seriyuha said pleasantly as she sheathed her axe into her kite shield.

"You're getting better, little brother," Chigusa said, flashing a smile at him.

Shirou laughed and said, "Not much choice in this world."

With that distraction finished, they continued on. Once or twice more they faced similar ambushes of snow wolves, but as the beasts were more active at night their progress wasn't badly hindered. The weather was also clear that day; they had learned the hard way that snowstorms in the mountains easily became blinding, and the occasional Snow Golem would start to roam when the weather was severe enough. Luckily, there was an NPC in Tulse, an appropriately older gentlemen who could feel in his bones when storms were coming. They had made sure to consult him – or rather his bones, Shirou supposed – that day before departing.

The mountainside around them was a shroud of white and some green – the pine trees that surrounded them – until finally a black shape loomed in the distance. The white spider cave. When they were finally upon it, Shirou caught sight of silvery webbing fluttering in the crisp winter winds and eyed it warily.

"Can you get stuck in spider webs in Sword Art Online?" he asked Chigusa.

"Nah," Chigusa said with a casual wave of her hand. "I explored another giant spider lair a few floor up back during the beta. Unless we see a huge thick wall of web, we'll be fine."

"Even so, better to play it safe," Seriyuha said as she walked into the cave without hesitation.

Chigusa and Shirou shared a look, nodded to one another, and followed her. For all her talk of caution, Seriyuha sure was forging ahead without concern.

The inside of the cave wasn't dark, and in fact light flashed at them from all sides as they entered, surprising the trio and stinging their eyes. But when they adjusted to the glare, they saw that they were in a cavern with crystalline walls, and these walls that scattering the light and reflecting it every which way. Shirou gaped at the unnatural appearance of the wall, and reached out with his finger. The stone felt smooth, like glass to the touch.

"Nature doesn't cut crystal like this," he muttered.

"Is there anything significant about them?" asked Seriyuha.

"I don't think so," said Chigusa, "It's a pretty common video game cliche for ice caverns to have inexplicable crystal formations in them. Better to watch out for the inevitable zero-friction ice patches, too."

"That would be pretty dangerous if we saw anything like that," Seriyua said quietly.

"Nah, it's just a huge pain in the ass, especially if Kayaba decides to hit us with block pushing puzzles too. Seriously, not a cool move."

Shirou laughed quietly, but Seriyuha wasn't looking at either of the siblings. "Not that," she said as she pointed further into the cave with her axe.

The next hallway was blanketed in spider webbing, and stuck to and partially covered by that webbing were large, veiny, white ovoid objects. Objects that were twitching and moving in the windless cavern.

"Those would be spider eggs," muttered Shirou.

"Yup," said Chigusa. "I'd guess those eggs hatch more than one spiderling per egg, too."

"And they'll probably hatch if we get too close?" asked Seriyuha.

"There could be a lot of things that might set them off," said Chigusa. "Could be a timer, could be there'll be another spider that activates them somehow, or it could be just if we get too close. Hard to guess until-"

Seriyuha shook her head, walked toward the nearest egg, and tapped it with the flat of her axe.

"-hey wait!"

"This way is fastest," Seriyuha said quietly.

The egg's movement stopped immediately the moment Seriyuha's axe made contact, and a shudder ran across it, a shudder that spread through the webbing, touched the closest eggs, and caused them to freeze in place as well. Fortunately, the rest of the eggs didn't issue out the same shudder – Shirou could only imagine how far it would ultimately spread if they did. But more pressingly, a loud crack reverberated from the eggs.

"As I thought," said Seriyuha. She lunged her axe toward the egg, but it glanced off the shell, causing her to almost tumble over. She quickly righted herself and took a few steps away from the egg, frowning.

Chigusa gave Seriuyha's back a dirty look. "Didn't expect _that_ , didja?"

"No I didn't," Seriyuha said quietly.

The shell exploded into fragments, and a small, fuzzy, wet, white creature crawled its way free. It was a large white spider, as big as a small dog, and it was staring them down with its beady little eyes. A few of the nearby eggs, the ones that had been effected by the first one Seriyuha touched, likewise exploded, freeing their own White Spiderlings.

Her teeth bared, Seriyuha swung her axe at the spiderling, but it leaped aside and moved quickly toward her, its front legs raised high. After a few steps it lunged suddenly at her, its fangs meeting Seriyuha's leg. Seriyuha gasped, took a step back, and then immediately dropped to one knee. The attacking spiderling leaped away before she even began her clumsy attack.

The siblings both shouted their ally's name and ran to her side, just as two of the Spiderlings skittered forward. Both lunged toward Seriyuha, who was having trouble with her footing, but Shirou thrust his buckler outward and the first spiderling rammed into it with a dull crunch, while Chigusa wiped the blunt end of her spear around, striking the second spiderling and sending it crashing into the wall. Shirou thrust his sword into the stunned first spiderling, while Chigusa charged forward with her spear held up, and ran the second through. Two more of the spiderlings gave a squeal and leaped toward Chigusa, but Seriyuha ran in, catching one with her shield and smashing it against the wall, while Chigusa caught the second with a high sweep of her spear before it reached her. Only the first spiderling, the one that had damaged Seriyuha, was left, but Shirou caught and killed it with a sword skill. As the cave quieted down again, he quickly scanned their surroundings, but saw no other active spiderlings for now.

"Are you okay?" asked Chigusa.

Seriyuha was standing properly again, and her health bar was still nearly full, but she was breathing heavily.

"Yeah, I just couldn't feel my leg for a while there," she said, "which means I couldn't properly raise my shield. What was that?"

"Probably a paralysis secondary effect on the attacks of these spiders," said Chigusa. "I wasn't expecting something like that on the first floor, but it was localized paralysis, and it looks like it faded quickly."

Shirou glared down at the remnants of the spiderling eggs So, that was it. The spiderlings had a chance – probably a high one, too – to numb bodyparts when they struck. And they came in numbers, and attacked together. Shirou glanced over to Seriyuha's health bar, mentally replaying the fact that the spiderlings hadn't actually done much damage. But if they kept biting, kept paralyzing someone?

"Those things aren't strong but a single person could have been easily killed," he said, shuddering.

"No kidding," said Chigusa. "Let's not aggro any more of these eggs if we can avoid it, shall we?"

"Good idea," Seriyuha said breathlessly.

They moved on, though Shirou couldn't help but notice Seriyuha glancing to the sides as she went, and stopping at the slightest noise. His heart beat a little faster to know that Seriyuha was troubled, even though she was trying hard to conceal the fact from him and his sister.

They moved more carefully, avoiding the spiderling eggs where they could, but occasionally a cluster of them would block entire passages, forcing them to fight. Seriyuha wasn't caught off guard by the spiderling attacks again, but the little beasts were quicker and more cunning than the field monsters they had yet seen, and all three of the players took occasional bites when their attacks went wide. They had come well-prepared with health potions, but the cave was a twisting labyrinth of passages. When they finally came upon a room where they found already-active spiderlings (these ones slightly larger than the hatchlings), Chigusa announced that they were finally headed the right way - probably.

"Good," Seriyuha said as she took her stance.

The closest spiderling reared up, and a thick silvery wad shot from its mouth and at Seriyuha. She gave a surprised strangled cry and raised her shield, and the gunk hit it with a splat.

"Webbing! Careful, it'll slow you down!" cried Chigusa.

"I figured that out already!" Seriyuha said as she readied a skill. Her attack sent her leaping forward in a long arc, and she brought her axe down on the spiderling.

The other two in the room shrieked and ran toward the nearest egg clusters, tapping them feverishly with their front legs.

"Well, crap," muttered Shirou.

"Take the closer eggs, Razler!" Chigusa cried as she ran toward the one that stood further away, her spear held ready.

Shirou reached his target and brought his saber down in a deadly swing before the spiderling had moved on from the eggs it was working on, but the shudder that announced the hatchlings would soon be spawning had already spread. The other spiderling leaped away from Chigusa's thrust just as the spear's tip was about to run it through, and it fired a wad of webbing at her before she could recover from her lunge. The gunk splattered upon hitting her torso, smearing the silk across her upper body and legs. Snarling, she swung her spear at the spiderling, but her attack was slow and clumsy, and the spider had barely to move to evade it. And now the eggs were hatching behind her. She tried to move away, but she stumbled after only two steps, and she was forced to lean on her spear just to stay up. Her arms were nearly glued to her sides, and her knees together.

"CHIGUSA!" Shirou screamed as he ran toward her.

It was Seriyuha who reached her first, and she blocked the spiderling's lunge and struck the creature down, but the hatchlings were coming forth, just as another wave began to appear behind Shirou.

"Dammit!" he cried.

Shirou backed up against Seriyuha, his buckler held ready, but even he knew he couldn't hold off all five of the approaching spiderlings at once, and Seriyuha couldn't leave Chigusa's side. His teeth gnashed, Shirou looked around wildly, searching for a way out. One passage - the one they came from - was clear of spiders, but it was also the furthest away. Helping Chigusa over to it with the spiders attacking would be impossible...

"Get away from here!" screamed Chigusa. "Seriyuha, take Shirou and run! Leave me!"

"NO!" cried Shirou. "I'm not leaving you here to die, Chigusa!"

"Your brother would never forgive me if I did as you asked," Seriyuha said grimly.

"No! _Please_ , I'd never be able to live with myself if Shirou died in this world!" Chigusa cried, her voice hoarse and racked with sobs. "It's my fault he's here in the first place!"

The first spiderling lunged at Shirou. He managed to beat it back with his buckler, but the attack of a second prevented him from cutting down the immobilized beast.

"DON'T LET MY LITTLE BROTHER DIE HERE, SERIYUHA!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO ABANDON YOU, CHIGUSA!"

"I bear a message from the Lord!"

Something – a huge player dressed mostly in white – ran in from another side passage, skidded to a stop in front of Shirou's wave of spiderlings, and slammed into one of the spiders with his fist. A _crunch_ echoed through the cavern, and when the stranger raised his fist, the spiderling could only wiggle its legs helplessly as it shattered into polygons.

"Fear not, for with the Lord, all things are possible!" the stranger said as he settled back into a combat stance.

The spiderlings turned toward the new player, and Shirou took the opening they presented to unleash a sword skill on the closest one, bringing it down.

"A fine strike," the stranger said as he moved closer to Shirou, giving him a chance to properly look him over.

He was a tall man, with thick arms and sharp eyes. Shirou immediately guessed that the man had to be a westerner. He was wearing thick robe-like gear, but for weaponry he wielded iron knuckles with thick wrist-guards attached. Shirou guessed that the man could last in combat longer than he could. He looked over his shoulder and exchanged a glance at Seriyuha, who nodded and settled into a defensive stance.

"Hinoka," she said sharply, and Chigusa's sobs subsided.

"R-right," she said. "Whatever your name is, please listen to what I have to say!"

"I go by the name of Samson, and I wouldn't dream of ignoring the wishes of such a good sister," said the stranger.

"Right, work with Shi – with Razler to defeat those enemies. They'll try to lunge in groups, hold them back so Razler can kill them! Seriyuha, please hold off the other group, and I'm sorry for the trouble I'm causing!"

"Not a problem," said Seriyuha.

"Just please protect me until Razler and Samson have defeated the rest!"

Shirou put his back to his sister, his gaze and attention only upon the spiders ahead of him.

"You already know but this is my sister we're protecting, so let's do this right," he said quietly. "Despite the silly predicament she's in, she knows her stuff, honestly."

Samson nodded, and held his arms slightly wide at as his side. Two of the remaining three spiderlings dove, and Samson took a step back and then lunged, spreading his arms wide. With both hands he struck the spiderlings, sending them flying through the air and into the cave walls. The little monsters fell stunned to the ground, their legs wiggling. Shirou chose the closer and ran after it. Once it was dead, Shirou turned and caught Samson's eye, who nodded approvingly. He had just finished smashing the other spiderling, leaving only one lift. Shirou and Samson charged at the last one, which looked at them both, as if its AI couldn't decide which way to flee. Ultimately, it failed to make any decision, and it died just as the others did.

"And now for the rest," Samson said with a wide grin on his face. He didn't even wait for Shirou to give any sort of reply, and simply charged to Seriyuha's side, leaving Shirou feeling a little overwhelmed. He was certainly _exuberant_.

Samson naturally reached Seriyuha first, and he bashed a spiderling to the ground with his fists. Seriyuha said something in thanks and stepped forward, giving Chigusa more space. Shirou ran to his sister's side and began feverishly yanking at the webbing to free her.

"Shirou," she whispered shakily, "I'm so so-"

"Later," Shirou said quietly, though he privately hoped he could get away with never. He didn't want to face what had happened, but he suspected Chigusa would want to address it.

Once he had pulled the remaining spider webbing from her arms, Chigusa began helping him to release herself, and the siblings soon had her completely free from the web. By then, Seriyuha and Samson had defeated all but two of the spiderlings, which broke up to attack the two of them, only to falter at their strong defenses. Chigusa and Shirou ran in, and killed them.

Samson crossed his arms and laughed loudly. "And with a donkey's jawbone, I've made donkeys of them!" he cried.

"Donkeys aside," said Seriyuha, "I have to thank you for coming when you did. I'm not sure we could have escaped from that on our own."

"Not at all," Samson said, more quietly than Shirou would have guessed he was able to manage. "I was exploring this cave when I heard your young friends screaming at one another. I could tell that the Lord had guided me here for a reason."

"Well," Chigusa said, her voice still a little shaken, "from the bottom of my heart, thank you for saving me and my brother."

She bowed low, but Samson waved her off. "Helping others isn't something that needs thanks. It's something we're all called to do."

"You're a man of the cloth on the outside?" asked Seriyuha.

"Yes," said Samson. "When I found myself trapped here, I honestly wondered if this all weren't punishment from the Lord for me, for wasting time on online games that I could have spent saving souls." He began walking around, as if looking for something in a crowd that only he could see. "Then I saw that so many of the players around me were drowning in despair, and I began to believe that the Lord had placed me here so that I might protect and guide the lost sheep."

"Too bad He couldn't have guided Kayaba into oncoming traffic a week before the servers went up," muttered Shirou.

To Shirou's own surprise, Samson gave a single, booming, laugh. "I won't deny that that would be a bit more to the point, but the Lord works in mysterious ways."

"And in what ways do you work?" asked Seriyuha. "You look for other players in need?"

Samson turned to her, a shrewd frown on his face. "Mostly, yes. Most players who don't already believe one way or another are too busy trying to level up to hear the good word, so for now I decided I should make sure they can survive long enough to seek salvation."

Seriyuha nodded and took a step forward Samson. "The best way to save everyone would be to clear this game as soon as possible." She reached her hand out toward him, and he looked down at it. "You seem to be an honest sort, so I suspect we can trust you. Would you care to join forces with the three of us?"

"Maybe," Samson said, though he gently closed Seriyuha's hand and pushed it back toward her. "I wouldn't mind hunting the lair's master with you, but that'll do for now. I'm not quite sure-"

Shirou heard a rushing sound coming from another passage, and thought he saw a flash of white in the corner of his eye. He turned his sword toward the passage, expecting another attack, and the others followed suit behind him. Seconds passed slowly, but nothing happened. No spiderlings moving in force to attack them. All was quiet.

"That was no monster," said Chigusa. "Whatever that was, I got a glance at it, too, and monsters wouldn't just rush through their lair without aggroing us."

"It's probably just another player exploring the caves," said Samson. "I was here too, after all, and I meant the three of you no harm."

Seriyuha shook her head and moved toward the passage, axe ready. "You weren't trying to hide yourself from us. Still, we shouldn't simply assume that everyone we don't know is an enemy. I'd like to look into this."

"I agree," Chigusa said as she hurried after Seriyuha.

Shirou followed behind, and so did Samson. "You're coming with us?" he asked the older man.

"Yes, I wouldn't mind sharing the quest reward with the three of you," he said, smiling. "I doubted whether I could defeat Magmanta on my own, honestly."

Shirou nodded and hurried along to catch up to Seriyua and Chigusa. They saw no other sign of the strange sneaking player, though they saw signs of their passage. Passages with torn webs or the occasional shattered egg cluster lay ahead, and the quartet followed the player's trail, until finally they came upon an undisturbed room, a dead end with several egg clusters and a pit at the opposite end. Water from a hole in the roof flowed into the room and followed several channels that inevitably wound toward the pit. Shirou and his allies approached the hole carefully, and peered inside. It was wholly dark inside, and from the sounds of the falling water, incredibly deep.

"I don't suppose we're to go in there, are we?" asked Samson.

"I'm not risking that without a very clear hint telling us to," Seriyuha said quietly.

"More importantly," Shirou said, stepping away from the hole and scanning the room, "where's that other player? They vanished."

"They're probably using the Hiding skill," said Chigusa. "You can turn invisible depending on how well you blend in with your environment if you have a decent Hiding skill level and people aren't looking right at where you are." She sighed and shook her head. "I don't suppose anyone here has the Tracking skill?"

Shirou shook his head ruefully. "It didn't sound all that useful."

"Same here," Seriyuha said quietly.

"I wasn't interested in looking for other players or monsters trying to hide," said Samson, "I just wanted to smash enemies with my fists and guide the lost to the Lord."

Chigusa rolled her eyes and groaned, and Samson gave one of his booming laughs.

"So what do we do?" Shirou asked as he turned toward the others. In that instant, a black flash darted past his vision and into one of the eggs. His heart racing, he spun around, and saw a white and black shape darting from the wall and out of the room. It was a little girl, dressed all in white and with long black hair. And she was smiling at Shirou and the others.

"Damn, get back here!" he roared as he began to run after the girl.

"Razler, STOP!" Seriyuha cried from behind him.

He skidded to a stop, almost unable to stop himself. It was the first time Seriyuha had ever barked an order at him, but it made his body shake. It was like hearing the words coming from his parents. He turned around, his fists and teeth clenched tight. Seriyuha was pointing toward the egg the girl had hit, which was going through its hatching procedure. Only this time, its hatching wave spread throughout the room, setting off all four egg clusters at once.

"She lured us here!" cried Chigusa, "she's trying to trick us into making her progress for her! Everyone gather up, we can't be split up from one another!"

Seriyuha, Shirou, and Samson quickly went to Chigusa's side, Samson and Seriyuha in front of her, and Shirou at her side.

"I'll let you call this one, Hinoka," said Seriyuha, "should we back off? We can't afford getting attacked by player killers while we're fighting the spiders."

"I don't think she's trying to get us killed," Chigusa said without hesitation, "she's probably just trying to take advantage of our hard work. She could have attacked _us_ instead of these spiders."

"She did leave us with quite the bag to hold," muttered Samson.

"I have a feeling she's been watching us," said Chigusa, "and there's no benefit for her if we get killed. We won't soften these things up for her very well if we're dead, after all..."

"So what're we doing, then?" asked Shirou. He privately agreed - though possibly just because he didn't want to believe a stranger was trying to get them killed - but what mattered just then was their survival.

The eggs shattered, releasing the spiderlings. The horde immediately turned on them and began skittering in, their claws clicking on the ice. Shirou estimated some twenty of them total, but it was difficult to tell with so many grouped up as they were.

"We can't run with those hatchlings following after us, they'll catch up to us eventually, and I'd rather not get cornered near unhatched eggs," said Chigusa. She twirled her spear around. "So we fight this one out. Back into the passage we came in, and stay close."

"Listen to Hinoka!" said Seriyuha. She backed into the entryway without pause, but her eyes were fixed on the hatchlings.

"Seriyuha, Samson, guard the front," said Chigusa. "These things attack by twos, block both attacks and move forward, covering each other."

"Understood," said Samson, and Seriyuha nodded.

"Shi – Razler," Chigusa added with a glance to her brother, "it's up to us to finish off the spiderlings after Samson and Seriyuha knock them back them! The only easy time to hit them is when they're reeling!"

Shirou nodded and readied himself to move as the first spiderlings drew near.

The first two slammed into Seriyuha and Samson, who blocked their attacks with now-practiced skill, sending the small spiders into the walls and tumbling back to the ground. The front line immediately rushed past the two downed spiders, pushing back the incoming attack of another set.

"Move in," Chigusa cried as she ran forward to one of the stunned spiderlings, Shirou mimicking her, "but don't move too far past them, and get ready to retreat after killing your spiderling!"

"Got it!" Shirou cried as he sank his sword into one of the spiderlings, Chigusa killing the other.

"Samson, Seriyuha, pull back! Give yourselves some space!" Chigusa said as she moved backwards.

The pair nodded and did as told. And the process continued, the pair up front defending and stunning attackers and then moving forward to prevent other spiderlings from interfering, while the pair behind dealt finishing strikes on the wounded. Shirou couldn't help but marvel at how efficiently they – a group of just four – were cleaning up a swarm of over twenty spiderlings without serious health loss. It was a classic and simple strategy, of course, but being a living, moving part of it was completely different from seeing it done on a screen. Here he was, a critical piece of a fight for survival, depending on two strangers. And it was working. He couldn't help but smile as he struck down another spiderling.

"The spiderlings hatched from the same clutch obey the two attackers at a time AI rule, but that's not shared across different clutches," said Chigusa. "I saw that back when Samson saved us! If we tried to fight out in the open we'd end up with all of us trying to hold off a whole cluster of spiderlings each!

"Heh, not a bad tactician you've found, Seriyuha," Samson said as he ran forward, shoulder-bashing an oncoming spiderling and sending it flying into another behind it.

They continued on, bouncing the aggression of the spiderlings, until only four remained. They were skittering in just as the others that had died, as if unable to comprehend their peril.

"Okay, take them on, we've got this!" Chigusa cried, her spear pointed toward the remaining spiderlings.

The quartet ran forth, taking the fight to the spiderlings that were left, and struck them down. The stragglers were easy prey, and dropped in single strikes. Samson smashed the last spiderling into the ground, and all went quiet.

Laughing to himself, Shirou sheathed his sword. "Well, that's ove-"

A high-pitched roar rocked the cavern, and all around them began to rumble.

"Looks like SAO has a sense of dramatic timing," he muttered. Immediately Shirou drew his weapon, and the four pulled back into a close ball.

"Sounds like a boss!" Samson said, a tooth-bearing grin on his face. "Ready for more work, Hinoka?"

Shirou gripped his saber tighter, his attention on the vast hole at the center of the room. There was no doubt that the rumbling and roaring was coming from there. He'd almost forgotten about Magmanta ever since he came into the cave, his attention being as occupied as it was by the spider's spawn. Now it looked like he was in for a rather forced remainder.

Then, at last, a fuzzy white shape leaped from the hole, landed with a crash before them, and unfolded its great bulk. Magmanta was indeed Great, dwarfing the other spiders – and the heroes who had come to fight it – with ease. It hoisted itself up by its eight great legs, the two appendages in front – its pedipalps – pointed outward as if to attack with. Shirou noted, unhappily so, that they ended with blade-sharp points.

"Someone needs to tell Akihiko that those are supposed to just be sensory organs," he muttered.

Magmanta regarded them with its eight eyes as its four health bars filled up, its thick white hair waving as if in the wind. Was it sensing them with vibrations or something? Shirou wasn't sure, and he was more concerned with the spider's front limbs. They were constantly moving toward and away from its sharp front mandibles. The spider could probably snip his limbs off with those things. He cringed involuntarily at the notion.

"Don't be afraid!" cried Seriyuha. "It's nothing more than a giant pest, work together and bring it down!"

Samson settled into his combat stance, grinning. "Well, look on the bright side, this time we're the ones fighting four to one," he said.

Magmanta stepped back, raised its right front leg, and leaned forward, bringing it down all in a nearly-instant motion. Seriyuha raised her shield and blocked the attack, but the sheer weight thrown into it brought her to her knees. Magmanta then replanted its front leg and lunged forward wickedly fast, its fangs raised and ready to pierce. Seriyuha struggled to bring her shield up against the charge, but Samson moved in, grabbed both fangs by the metal of his knuckles and planted his feet firmly in the ground. Magmanta tried to force itself forward, its fangs wiggling wildly, but Samson held firm, a wide toothy smile on his face.

"Begone, beast! My strength is that of the Lord!" he cried. Then, and to Shirou's wonder, Samson took a great step forward, and threw the spider backward with a mighty roar. Magmanta landed on its feet but actually leaped back, raised itself high, and gave off a loud screech.

"Go, Razler!" cried Chigusa.

Seeing his chance, Shirou darted in with a sword skill, and he drove his sword into Magmanta's belly. The Great White Spider gave a shriek and curled itself inward, its front legs specifically pointed toward the source of its pain, Shirou rounded, his eyes widened, but Chigusa and Samson dove in and beat back its counter, forcing the spider away.

"It exposes its weak spot after its attack fails, but only for a short time!" cried Chigusa.

But Magmanta had already recovered, and was on the move again. It again went for a wicked downward stab, this time with its left front leg, but now Seriyuha was ready for the force behind the attack, and deflected it to the side rather than blocking it head-on. When it lunged in to deliver a deadly bite, she turned and stabbed her axe into its face, dropping its hp and sending it reeling. Chigusa and Shirou dove in together, each delivering a sword skill to its belly.

"The window to attack is pretty narrow," Chigusa said as she and Shirou fell back to avoid the counter. "Only a few seconds, I've seen similar with other great spiders during the beta."

"That's not very long," said Shirou.

"No, but it has a very clear tell before it exposes itself. Only a solo-player would have trouble once they knew what to look for," said Chigusa.

Magmanta struck again, and this time Shirou readied a sword skill as Samson and Seriyuha worked to hold off its attack. Once the spider took its backward step and reared, Shirou and Chigusa charged in together, their blades sinking deep into the spider's belly, and together they leaped away, barely dodging as the spider brought in its legs to spear them.

"Nice job, Razler," Chigusa said brightly.

"Save your congratulations," said Seriyuha. "The spider's doing something different."

Magmanta wasn't attacking again. Its health bar drained two-thirds, it began thrashing about, lifting itself up and dropping itself, stabbing its front claws into the ground, and screeching loudly. In short, it was having a massive fit.

Shirou took a step back, his heart racing. What was going on? Was it about to unleash some huge attack on them?

"Be careful, it's going to change its behavior," Chigusa said as she stepped behind Seriyuha and Samson.

Magmanta just stood there, thrashing and raging, for a few more seconds. Shirou stared at it, his grip on his sword tightening. Why were they just waiting?

"Shouldn't we attack him!?" he eventually cried to Chigusa.

"Usually you can't hurt bosses while they're-"

Magmanta gave a final, piercing shriek, and turned toward the wall. The spider moved with agility that belied its size, leaping onto the wall, rotated toward them with a look in its beady eyes that was almost a glare, and then leaped off at Shirou. Shirou's eyes widened at the sight of the huge, white, fuzzy bulk soaring through the air directly at him, and he narrowly scrambled out of the way, Magmanta's weight rocking the cave. Shirou was off his feet, and Magmanta gave another short leap and was on top of him, its fangs pointed toward him. Shirou barely raised his buckler in time, but Magmanta pressed down against him hard, crushing him into the floor with its vast size and strength. His head was spinning.

He heard Chigusa and Seriyuha calling his name, and he fumbled blindly for his sword. His arm felt numb, he couldn't hang onto his shield with Magmanta pressing down against him. Where was his sword!? Finally his hand hit something sharp, but with Magmanta on top of him he couldn't properly get to the handle of his sword. Magmanta's weight didn't quite hurt, but it still put pressure on him. And it was getting worse by the second.

"SHIROU, NO!" screamed Chigusa.

"UP YOU GO, DEMON!"

Magmanta's weight on him lessened just a little. Shirou breathed a little easier, and scanned around wildly. What was going on, was Magmanta going into a different attack? Craning his neck back, he saw Samson standing nearly over him, Magmanata resting on his shoulders. Strain was showing on his face, but he grinned down at Shirou and gave an awkward nod. With the spider's weight off of him, Shirou flipped his sword around to get to its handle. With a cry, he gave Magmanta a clumsy jab in the belly, and the remaining pressure on his body lifted in an instant. He tried to scramble to his feet on his own, but Samson pulled him away and lifted him onto them in one quick motion.

Magmanta reared back, screeching, and Shirou saw the red blur of Chigusa move in to stab it once again in its underside.

"I won't let you touch my brother again, monster!" she snarled.

Magmanta brought its front claws in as it had so many times, but Chigusa leaped away in time, much to Shirou's relief. He had almost expected her to forget the counter attack in her rage. Seriyuha stepped in front of Shirou, forcing a health potion into his hand. Shirou downed it without thinking, realizing only then that Magmanta had driven his health down to two-fifths full.

Magmanta turned and leaped onto the wall again, and turned to look down at them. Shirou instinctively inched away from the giant beast, and was glad in that moment that Seriyuha was in front of him.

"Everyone close together, Seriyuha and Samson up front!" Chigusa screamed while Magmanta rotated itself.

The order was a little unnecessary, as Seriyuha and Samson were already in front and Chigusa had come behind them, but the group immediately moved into a tight bunch.

But rather than leap as it had before, Magmanta raised itself up and gave another loud screech, which was answered by an echoing scream from the hole in the center of the room.

"More of them!?" cried Shirou.

The group immediately turned, almost as one, to the hole, but Chigusa immediately cried, "Seriyuha, keep an eye on Magmanta"

Seriyuha did as asked, just as four of the spiderlings scuttled up over the edge of the hole.

"Same as before! Clear them quickly, Magmanta might rejoin the fight at any minute!" cried Chigusa.

As they had in the past, a pair of the spiderlings sprang forward, both at Samson. He caught one of them mid-leap with his fist, but the other connected with his knee, bringing him to a kneel. Chigusa went in and killed that spiderling, while Shirou moved ahead of him to hold off any further attacks. The last two began moving forward, squatted down on their eight spindly legs and-

"IT'S LEAPING AT US!" cried Seriyuha.

Shirou grabbed Samson - who was just rising - and leaped to the side just as Magmanta came down where they were, its spawn scattering out of its way. Again the spider's bulk shook the cavern, and it took another jump forward at the two men – and threw its face directly into Chigusa's spear.

"Not again, you overgrown bug," she said quietly.

Magmanta reared back, raising its front side yet again, and Seriyuha darted in, a sword skill ready. Shirou cried out, a wide grin on his face – when a pair of black knives streaked past Seriyuha and plunged into Magmanta's belly. The beast gave a final, feeble, scream, thrashed slightly, and exploded into bits of light.

Shirou blinked, surprise knocking the wind out of him. Seriyuha came to a rest from her sword skill and smashed her shield into the nearest of the surviving spiderlings almost contemptuously. Samson finished the other as Chigusa and Shirou rounded on the source of the disturbance. There, at the entrance to the cavern inner chamber was a young girl. She was grinning at the four of them while she lazily threw a knife in the air and caught it. Though the long hair that framed her face was black, she wore all white, the same color as the cavern walls. Judging from her size, she had to be no older than eleven.

But Shirou immediately recognized her. It was the very same girl he'd seen in the Inn central room that morning - she'd listened in on them!

"Thanks for all the hard work!" she said, "I'll just take my share of the reward and be on my way!"

"Oh no you don't, you brat," cried Chigusa, "you didn't do anything! You just got the last hit in!"

The girl gave a clear laugh and smiled at her. "Yeah, and according to the book the beta testers wrote – beta testers like _you_ – whoever gets the last hit on a boss gets the best reward, like that ore stone the old man wanted! I'm just following the game's rules!"

Samson and Seriyuha walked up to the siblings slowly, but nobody advanced on the girl. Though she was watching them casually, Shiro was sure that she could retreat in a flash if she needed to. It seemed his older companions shared that opinion.

"Enough of this, little girl," Samson said calmly. "We both know that what you did isn't fair to us." He took a slow step forward, his hand outstretched. "You did lead us to the boss' lair, and I'm sure we could arrange a fair deal for all of us. Now what do you say?"

"Uhhhh," the girl moaned, an exaggerated glazed look on her face, "I say _I_ just run away and take a fair deal for _me_. Bye!"

The girl gave a final wink, turned, and began sprinting down the corridor, going faster than one might expect from the length of her stride.

"Get back here!" Chigusa screamed as she gave chase.

Shirou quickly closed the reward window for his participation on Magmanta and followed her, Seriyuha and Samson hot on his heels. They ran quickly, but the little girl was a step ahead of them no matter how fast they went. They passed through the already-cleared passages of the spider cave, the girl's path leading them slowly but surely toward the exit. The easiest way to corner her would be if she managed to get herself trapped in a dead end, but Shirou realized quickly - gnashing his teeth at the thought of it - that she knew exactly where she was going. And he could judge from the increasing delays between losing sight of her around bends and seeing her again before she turned another that they weren't gaining on her.

"Be careful, Hinoka!" cried Seriyuha. "There's no telling what she might do to lose us!"

"It's fine!" Chigusa replied breathlessly from ahead. "She can't activate Hiding while moving around so fast! Once were out of this cave she won't be able to lose us easily and the thick snow outside will slow her down!"

But just as they rounded a bend, they came across what must have been one of the few remaining clusters of spiderling eggs – eggs which were starting to hatch. Chigusa charged on past, apparently not realizing the danger.

"Chigusa!" Shirou yelled as he stopped. "She triggered spider eggs!"

"Hinoka, _stop_!" cried Seriyuha.

Chigusa skidded to a stop, snarled, and screamed, "you're gonna pay for this!" at the fleeing girl.

They managed to defeat the spiderlings in only a few seconds, but although they resumed their chase, they saw no sign of the little girl. Seriyuha quickly led the group back outside the cavern, hoping that they might be able to find her outside. Shirou was not optimistic as they hurried along, and sure enough, all they saw of the little girl was fresh footprints leading off down the mountain - with the girl herself nowhere in sight.

Chigusa grumbled that they wouldn't receive any real quest reward without Magmanta's key item drop, but Shirou simply stretched and savored the fresh air. The reward seemed to be a lost cause, and but it was nice to be back out in the open again.

"While that ended unfortunately," said Seriyuha, "we still gained some EXP, Cor, and items in the cave. We should be grateful for that."

Chigusa just crossed her arms and looked away. "Yeah, but that little brat got away..."

"We might still be able to catch her," said Shirou.

Chigusa immediately gave him a questioning but almost-hopeful look.

"I recognized her this morning at the inn, she might be staying there another night."

"Then we should hurry back, before she has a chance to leave," Seriyuha said instantly. She turned toward Samson, giving him an appraising look.

"On the subject of quest rewards, should we consider you one?" asked Seriyuha.

"Yes and no," Samson said, his arms crossed. "I think we made for a damn good team, but I enjoy doing things on my own. I also move around a lot; I don't like being weighed down."

Seriyuha began to open her mouth, and Samson quickly added, "But! Give me a message whenever you think you'll need me. I'd be happy to help you."

After a pause, Seriyuha smiled and nodded, and walked toward him, her right hand outstretched. Samson took it and gave it an exuberant shake. "But for now we're headed the same way, so I don't think we'll be saying our farewells just yet."

"You're staying in Tulse too?" asked Shirou.

"Yes," said Samson, "and we all have a unruly child to hopefully catch!"

Instantly the quartet began to move quickly through the snow, headed back the same way they came that morning. Shirou had to force himself not to sprint back to town, and it seemed almost too hopeful that they might catch the girl if they made it back quickly enough. Maybe, if they were lucky, she might be waylaid by the monsters and slowed? It would be karmic justice for her earlier trick with the spiders, if nothing else.

Chigusa still looked upset, her face screwed up and her pace stiff. After a few minutes of trekking through the snow, Samson suddenly gave a laugh and clapped her on the shoulder, causing her to yelp.

"Don't stress about things, Hinoka, your face will get stuck like that," he said, smiling at her.

"Yeah well this isn't my real face," she muttered.

"Don't forget that there's meaning in all things that happen, even in this virtual prison!"

Laughing to himself, he hurried on, leaving Chigusa slightly behind. "Fancy way to say nothing in particular, right there," she said in what Shirou presumed was supposed to be a quiet mutter.

"Oh, he might be right," Seriyuha said. "If we do encounter that girl again, I'd like to try to convince her to join us.

Chigusa gave her an amazed look, which Shirou privately agreed with. Even setting aside the fact that Seriyuha was hoping to put her trust in a girl that had just _ripped them off_ , the little troll didn't seem the type to get along with others.

"Do you really think you can? She'll probably refuse no matter what you say," he asked.

"Children just need the right amount of pressure," Seriyuha said pleasantly.

"Besides, why would you _want_ her?" asked Chigusa.

"Like I said before," Seriyuha said patiently as she marched through the snow, "our best chance at escaping from this world is in working together. I'd like to gather as many like-minded players as possible."

Samson laughed. "You've been pondering over the big questions, Seriyuha!"

"I try my best."

Shirou hurried along to keep up with her. "What, and form a guild?" he asked between steps through the high snow.

"Is that not a good idea?" Seriyuha asked without looking at him.

"To be honest, I was planning to look for a guild to join as soon as they started popping up," said Chigusa. "It's by far the best way to have a support structure. There's only so much you can do as an informal group like us."

Shirou looked toward Chigusa, surprised, and she simply shrugged back at him. When was she going to share this plan with him, he wondered. She probably considered it too obvious to be worth mentioning. Either way, he had no problem with joining a guild, as long as it was one he could get along with. He suspected that Chigusa would do a good enough job looking for one. The thought of making a guild, of being one of its founding members... An exhilarating chill ran down his spine. He suspected he could get along well with Chigusa and Seriyuha, and probably Samson as well, but the obnoxious little girl, too?

He grimaced at the thought. Well, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

It was late in the afternoon when they returned to Tulse. Seriyuha sent the siblings to visit the old man for confirmation on the state of the quest, while she herself went to check the inn for signs of the girl. The old man spoke to them like any other npc, though mixed into his conversations was a new line expressing relief that the white spider infestation of the mines had been cleared out. Chigusa swore loudly at that one.

"So it was one-time quest?" Shirou asked, already guessing the answer.

"Yes," Chigusa said sullenly as she turned for the door.

Despite the situation, Shirou laughed quietly at his big sister. "So we're out of luck?" he asked.

"Depends on how long it takes for the quest to reset," Chigusa said as they stepped out into the snow. "But probably yeah. As far as I know it takes weeks for limited-time quests to reopen, assuming they do at all, and coming back then would probably be a waste unless we're still stuck on this floor."

She growled at nothing and balled her fists. "That stupid little girl! I can't believe she did that!"

Shirou jogged ahead to reach his sister's side, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He could feel the tension in her shoulder and arm, but she didn't fight him. "Don't worry, there'll be other quests out there. How good could a floor 1 reward be?"

She gave a humorless laugh and looked at him. "Well who knows, maybe we coulda gotten that Razor Shell thing you've been complaining about needing to upgrade your sword for five days now."

"Now that was just mean."

Unfortunately, by the time the siblings returned to the inn, Seriyuha and Samson had already managed to confirm with some of the other players that the little girl - Keh-keh, they discovered her player name was - had indeed returned and taken off again immediately after. The way the other players had described her, she rarely appeared in town during the day. Chigusa immediately suggested staging a stakeout to wait for her return to the inn - "Even demons need sleep, right?" she asked, only for Samson to actually get into a brief debate on the point that left Shirou and Seriyuha slightly bewildered - but Seriyuha vetoed the idea after thinking on it only briefly.

When Chigusa pressed her for what her plan on dealing with Keh-keh was, Seriyuha admitted that she hadn't yet decided on one. Chigusa looked like she was about to start yelling again when Samson suddenly called for ale all around, to which Shirou agreed with forced exuberance. The drink didn't actually taste like anything and Shirou was pretty sure it didn't intoxicate him, but he was relieved nonetheless that Chigusa let the situation go, at least for the time being. They spent the rest of that day huddled with Samson at a corner table of the central room, trading stories of their doings in the game - and even some of the real world. It was the first time in weeks that Shirou had actually spoken up of the world outside, though he eventually realized that it was he and Samson that were doing most of the talking. Seriyuha was saying little of a concrete nature of her world outside the NerveGear, and Chigusa was speaking less and less as the afternoon wore on.

When Samson finally announced that he was going to turn in for the night and Seriyuha suggested they do the same, Chigusa gave a very subdued "Good night," to her companions before retreating upstairs. Without waiting, Shirou followed her up to their room, where he found his big sister sitting on the bed and starting at the wood panel floor.

"What's wrong?" Shirou asked as he sat down across from her on his own bed.

"That girl knew I was a beta tester," Chigusa said quietly. "She must have overheard me mentioning Magmanta's vulnerability window."

"Why would that matter?" asked Shirou.

"I've heard rumors that a lot of the players back in the starting city are saying the beta testers abandoned them," Chigusa said. "It sounds like things are getting... messy."

Groaning, she rolled over onto her back. "You know, the usual accusatory nonsense people say whenever others are doing better and they think they deserve to do that well, too. It doesn't help that a good chunk of the playerbase in this game are teenagers of all things."

Shirou grimaced, the pieces clicking into place. In a world like this, people would start to raise panics more easily. A good enough speaker could rile a crowd to do something drastic, and it was worse considering all the players were stuck on the same floor for now. Shirou wondered if Chigusa wasn't quietly relieved they were in such an isolated region of the first floor.

Perhaps it wasn't very fair for him to hold an opinion since he had had Chigusa at his side from the beginning, but it wasn't like it was the responsibility of the beta testers to hold everyone's hands in this world. Besides, it didn't appear that Keh-keh or Samson were beta testers, and they were doing just as well as Chigusa was.

But Chigusa wasn't wrong, people would try to make excuses for anything.

He went over to his sister's bed and sat down at her side, patting her on the back. "Don't worry, Sis, I definitely won't let any of the other players hurt you, and I'm sure Seriyuha will be on your side too."

Chigusa rolled over to look at Shirou, smiling. "You're sweet, Shirou. Thank you."

"So can you please forgive yourself?" asked Shirou. The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop himself, but they'd needed to come out either way. Now seemed the best time to address what had happened in the cave.

Chigusa's expression darkened. "Oh. That."

Shaking her head slowly, she sat up, but she seemed almost determined not to meet Shirou's gaze. "I'm so sorry, Shirou. I - I just panicked, and I thought that was it."

She shut her eyes tight. "P-please forgive me... I put you in a horrible spot..."

Tears began to slowly streak down her face, but she kept her eyes mouth firmly shut - or forced shut, rather. Shirou immediately put his hands over hers, which were clenched on her lap.

"Chigusa, Dad's waiting for us in the real world. You remember that, right? It's not worth it if one of us dies here."

"I-if," she said, her voice hoarse, "If it had to be one of us... It's better that..."

"No!" said Shirou. "What happened isn't your fault! I haven't once blamed you for getting trapped in this world! It's all that bastard Kayaba's fault! Now stop blaming yourself for all this going wrong and let's work together to beat this damn world!"

Chigusa gave a weak laugh. "He'd better watch out then, I'd hate to have you after me with how worked up you're getting!"

She looked at up at him and smiled, though her eyes were still wet with tears.

Shirou smiled back.

"You win," she said as she wiped her eyes, "but don't think this means I won't try to protect you either. You're right that Dad's waiting for us to get out, so you'll still be my first priority no matter what else happens out there. That's what big siblings are there for."

Before he could think of anything else to say, Chigusa lunged forward and pulled him into a tight hug. He was briefly taken aback, but he quickly recovered and returned her embrace. Like so many other things in SAO, he was struck by how real the warmth of his sister felt.

"Tomorrow," Chigusa began slowly, "we should talk to Seriyuha about helping to clear the labyrinth, don't you think? It's time we made progress."

"Definitely. I'm sick of this damn floor."

The siblings broke apart and got ready for bed without any sort of verbal agreement to do so. Shirou lay awake for a while that night, listening for Chigusa, but her breathing soon settled into a calm rhythm. If not for Samson's intervention, he might have been alone in his room that night... He turned over, trying to force himself to fall to sleep. He didn't want to think about what happened in the cave...

In the morning, they both made good on Chigusa's suggestion and spoke to Seriyuha about leaving Tulse. After a few moments of silence, she finally agreed, and the trio left Samson behind and began the long hike back to the village of Tolbana, where they had heard rumors of players gathering to finally complete the first floor. It was a natural place to do so, as it was the village closest to the labyrinth. They arrived on the night of the third of December, and found lodging at the town inn with intent to search for and join the clearing players the next day.

They hadn't needed to, for the first floor was cleared before they made any progress. Seriyuha showed no disappointment at that, and instead suggested that she and her young charges move on to the second floor. Shirou had expected Seriyuha to leave them at that point, but she did no such thing. Instead, she became more talkative with the pair, asking them a few non-intrusive questions about the outside while offering a few things about her own personal life. If she really planned to form the start of a guild between the three of them, it only made sense that she would try to forge a deeper connection with the siblings.

Shirou didn't mind. He was growing used to her presence. Having an older woman looking after himself and Chigusa almost felt like...

* * *

For some reason I can't help but think of Fire Emblem Fates' soundtrack when I think of potential musical themes that would fit some of the characters. Hoshidan themes usually seem to befit characters like Chigusa or Keh-keh, while the Nohrian ones more fit Razler and Seriyuha. For boss fights involving larger groups of players I more think of the Major Boss Battle theme from Freedom Planet. Guess that could be seen as the theme for major fights involving the Summer Knights? Heheh.

And yes, I stole the name of the giant spider in this chapter from Elsword, though the two Magmantas are scarcely alike. My characters should be grateful for that.

Something that feels severely under-valued in the canon Sword Art Online is the importance of family and other familiar people in a person's life. The closest we ever get to valuing one's family is the way Kirito cares for Suguha. Suguha herself seems to have somehow warped her familial love into romantic love for Kirito. Most tellingly, Kirito never really seems worried about never seeing his family again while he's trapped in SAO, and his thoughts are usually on Asuna first.

Ah well, out of sight out of mind for Kawahara, I suppose.

Oh and, yes, I had Shirou say "Rest In Peace in peace."


	5. First Sword: The Dragon

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

Belated Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope yours went well :)

* * *

 _I still remember when I first heard about Kirito's Dual Blades skill. There was a story in the player newspaper about how Kirito, Asuna, and Klein had saved a squad from the Army, and Kirito took down the floor seventy-four boss by dual wielding swords.  
_

 _I didn't believe a word of it._

 _There was no way three players could take down a labyrinth boss on their own, and there was definitely no way a player could wield two weapons at once, at least not without proper training on the outside.  
_

 _Lots of people tried using two weapons at once, myself included, but the system wouldn't be able to recognize the kind of weapon you were using if you tried holding one in both hands, even if they were two weapons of the same type. You wouldn't gain any of the benefits from your weapon mastery rank, and you wouldn't be able to use sword skills either. Lyle could dual wield because he had learned how to fence on the outside and didn't need the system's assistance, but he still couldn't use sword skills.  
_

 _But Kirito could.  
_

 _I still remember the first time I saw him do it - wield two weapons. Hinoka gaped as she watched him fight with perfect dexterity in a way that shouldn't have worked, using sword skills neither she nor I could recognize. Heck, I'm pretty sure I was gaping too. This went beyond the tales of his insane strength. Even Seriyuha didn't have much to say about it.  
_

 _Heathcliff's Holy Sword was an ability that gave him powers exceeding twenty players, and Kirito's Dual-Wielding was much the same. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with._

 _That is, until the former killed the latter... But why had Kayaba Akihiko programmed such potent skills in the game in this first place? And now, with Silica and Pina, it seemed the miracle was happening once again. Just what_ were _these unique skills?_

* * *

Though Pina's sudden transformation had alarmed the gathered players, they began to calm down as it became clear that Pina wasn't dangerous. The gawking persisted, however.

After Silica had had her fun with her giant pet dragon she dispelled whatever skill had turned Pina huge in the first place. Razler stared, not sure what to think or what to do. Hinoka didn't move, nor did anyone else. Silica watched them watch her, her expression rapidly darkening. Then, finally, Seriyuha cleared her throat loudly and walked through the crowd, placing herself between them and Silica.

"Well, this was certainly an interesting twist, wasn't it?" she called out. Razler found it hard to believe she could keep her voice level in a moment like that.

"Well, Asuna," Seriyuha continued, loudly, "we were in the middle of discussing our guilds working together!"

A few of those present cast Asuna a glance, but she was staring at Silica herself, having apparently not heard Seriyuha at all.

Apparently realizing the whole situation would be impossible to defuse easily, Seriyuha changed course and gently urged Silica away from the gathering, which Silica concluded with a rather stilted "thank you," and "good bye". Once she was gone, Seriyuha addressed the elephant in the room, asking the assembled players to keep things under wraps until they knew more about Pina's transformation. Scattered agreement followed, and the crowd trickled away back to the teleport gate. Once most of the other players were gone, Seriyuha arranged to meet with Asuna that evening to discuss their plans, and then ordered the Summer Knights back to headquarters for a guild meeting.

Klein and his guild left as the Summer Knights did, leaving Lisbeth alone with Asuna.

The Summer Knights moved quickly to the gate, each of them eager to discuss what had happened but understanding that Seriyuha wouldn't want anything spoken in the open. When they finally reached Marten, Razler's heart was beating so hard it felt like it might escape through his throat. Pina's giant transformation had to be the same caliber of ability as Kirito's Dual Blades. What else could it be?

Upon returning to their headquarters, the Summer Knights quietly sat down around the table, Seriyuha taking her own spot at the front. Razler had rarely seen the Summer Knights so alert at a meeting; even Keh-keh was watching the guildmaster intently.

"Before we discuss the," she paused, frowning, " _fiasco_ , I'd like to thank you all for your work the last two days. Helping Asuna was more important than some of you might realize, and her condition had us treading in very dangerous waters."

"It doesn't bring us much closer to actually clearing the game, though," said Danger. "Kirito's still gone, and he was our best chance for beating labyrinth bosses."

"Yes, and that's where Silica and Pina come in," said Seriyuha. She leaned forward, planting her hands on the table. "Do you remember what Kayaba said about the unique skills that he and Kirito had? _There were ten of them_."

Danger's eyes widened. A few others in the guild had the same reaction. Razler stared at the others, a little surprised that they had taken Pina's transformation at face value.

"So, what you're saying is if we gather the players with the unique abilities, it would be like having ten Kiritos on our side?" asked Flashy.

"Eight, technically," said Keh-keh. "Kirito's still dead, and I doubt Kayaba's gonna help us again anytime soon."

Razler frowned as Keh-keh's point sunk in. She was right; they had only eight skills available to them at best.

But still, eight was better than zero.

"Firstly, we'll begin with the little Dragon Master Silica," said Seriyuha. "It could be that Pina won't be quite as impressive as she looks, and whatever skill Silica used to make her grow might not even be a unique ability, but it's worth investigating. Asuna's agreed to let use handle this one."

"Why us? Wouldn't she or the KoB want to get involved?" asked Flashy.

"I insisted," said Seriyuha. "Asuna's in no condition to handle Silica carefully and the KoB can be heavy-handed in how it deals with outsiders."

"They did basically force Kirito to join them, I heard," said Lloyd.

"Exactly," said Seriyuha. "So recruiting Silica is up to us, and we should move before other clearers try to take matters into their own hands."

Razler watched as the shadow of a smile crept into Seriyuha's expression. He felt a weight hit his stomach; this was moving a little too fast for his taste.

"Silica's not even a clearer," he said. "She's a mid-level player. It might be tough to convince her to join us on the front lines."

"It wouldn't be _her_ joining us," Keh-keh said without looking at Razler, "it'd be Pina. She just needs to stay out of trouble."

Lloyd frowned at Keh-keh and said, "And she might not like the idea of us treating her pet as a weapon, either."

"Then we're out of luck, aren't we," Keh-keh said as she toyed with her hair.

"We'll just have to convince her that Pina won't be hurt," said Hinoka.

"That's assuming we even end up deciding we need Pina in the first place," Seriyuha said after a moment's pause. Then she looked to Hinoka and Razler. "I'd like the two of you to get in touch with her and ask her if she'll meet with me. Let her know we could use her help, but don't tell her anything specific unless she starts asking questions. I'd rather bring up the idea of us wanting Pina to fight at our side myself."

Grinning to himself, Razler immediately began opening his menu. "Oh, no problem, I'll send Silica a private message," he said brightly.

Seriyuha gave an approving comment, but everyone else fell quiet. He had just began typing his message when the silence became overbearing. What was going on?

Looking up, he saw that Seriyuha was watching him.

As was everyone else. Even Hinoka was grinning at him, a silent laugh there in her smile. Razler sank into his chair a little, wondering what was going on.

"So, uhh," said Lyle, "how did you get Silica into your friends list?"

"I asked her? Yesterday, when I met her, just in case anything changed this morning."

"Huh, I didn't see that exchange," said Hinoka.

"I sent her a private message as we left."

"Pretty careful to get her, were you?" asked Lyle.

Lyle and a few of the others began chuckling. He glared at Lyle in particular, but to his gratitude not everyone laughed alongside him. Seriyuha, Samson, Hinoka, Flashy, Lloyd, and a few others were restraining themselves. Well, so was Keh-keh, but she was glaring around at everyone else as if she were exasperated at the proceedings.

"Razler likes dragons, I doubt it has anything to do with Silica herself," Hinoka offered, but that did nothing to stop the others. And she was still smiling a little too mirthfully for his liking.

"Silica being famous and cute for her age had _nothing_ to do with it," Lyle said with a smirk.

Keh-keh groaned loudly. Razler glared at Lyle, wondering if he could convince her to help him pay Lyle back.

"Stop troubling the poor boy," said Samson, "anything can happen from a chance meeting! Judge only if you have nothing to be ashamed of yourself."

Razler, if anything, felt a little worse, as he couldn't decide whether Samson was on his side or not.

"Anyways," Razler said loudly and with his eyes pointed stubbornly at his menu, "I'm going to send Silica the message now."

"Thank you, Razler," Seriyuha said warmly.

He quickly send her a simple private message telling her that Seriyuha wanted to meet with her and announced, "Done."

"While we're waiting for a reply, does anybody have any other ideas?" asked Hinoka.

"Valel's gotta have one of those unique skills," said Elise. "The way his swords are always glowing dark and cursed? There's no way that's normal."

Keh-keh made a squeaking sound. Razler clenched his hands. Hinoka gave his wrist a light squeeze.

"I was thinking the same," Seriyuha said, her eyes narrowed at the wall, "but I didn't mention him yet because contacting him will be difficult. And we haven't exactly got a good history with him either..."

"Maybe if we tried looking for the remaining player killers?" said Elise.

"Let's just focus on one thing at a time," Hinoka said quickly. "Heath – Kayaba said that the players with unique skills weren't planned to appear as early as Kirito did, right? We're probably jumping the gun here."

"If we're right about Silica, then three of these abilities have already revealed themselves," Lloyd said, his arms crossed. "I wouldn't trust Kayaba to be right about them."

"Well one of those three was Kayaba himself, so _he_ probably doesn't count for that," said Elise.

"He may have overestimated how difficult they were to unlock," said Samson.

Silica's reply popped up in front of Razler, reading: "Your guildmaster wants to see me? I don't see why not. Let me know where she'd like to meet me!"

"Silica said she'll meet you," Razler said loudly over the rest of his still-talking guildmates, "but she's probably confused about this, so you'd better have a good plan."

"Don't sorry," said Seriyuha. "Ask her to meet me at the sixty-seventh floor teleport gate tomorrow morning if she can make it, and I'd like you to join me there as well."

Razler was just opening his menus when he gave a start. "Me? Why?"

"Because she seems reasonably comfortable with you, and I thought you presence might set her at ease."

"Oh, _definitely_ it would." said Lyle.

" _Shut up_ ," snapped Keh-keh.

Razler navigated to the private messaging menu, his stomach writhing. The sixty-seventh floor? That had to be where Seriyuha lived. He'd never actually been to any of her homes, not since she established a designated meeting area for the guild. A few seconds later Silica replied, agreeing to the appointment. He announced her acceptance, getting a smile out of Seriyuha - and a couple more obnoxious jabs from Lyle.

"So should we continue clearing the seventy-sixth floor?" asked Hinoka.

"Yes, please fill me in on what the next floor is like, this business with Asuna hasn't given me a chance to hear anything about it," said Seriyuha.

Seriyuha remained silent for a few minutes as Hinoka, aided at some points by Lloyd and Lyle, described the seventy-sixth floor and their explorations of it so far. Judging from what Lloyd said, the southern river bank had mostly been explored, but the north bank and the river itself was still completely uncharted. As the subject turned to the mysterious underground cave, Seriyuha agreed almost instantly that it sounded like a field dungeon of some sort. The only curious fact remaining for the floor was that they'd yet to find the floor pillar. Until that was found, there was no telling where exactly the labyrinth was.

They would need to explore the north side river bank soon.

The entire guild then mobilized to the seventy-sixth floor, split up, and spent most of the day exploring the seventy-sixth floor. Seriyuha went as well, intending to gather what information she could to share with Asuna. About halfway into the day, they found a rocky area far upriver where she could cross over to the north bank (slightly rockier and drier than the south, but not by much) on foot, but because they were unwilling to stay out on the river past dark (Elise aside), they turned back before long. Back at town, Seriyuha thanked her guild for their hard work during the day and relieved them. Where she normally would have waited around a while to make herself available to anybody who wanted to speak to her, that day she left quickly.

"She's in a rush for that strategy meeting with Asuna," Razler said to himself, the rest of his guild walking past him to the teleport gate.

"Losing someone you love is cruel."

Hinoka was standing a little behind him and to his side, staring quietly at the teleport gate. Razler and his sister traded looks and stepped silently onto the teleport gate, returning to their own home on the sixty-first floor. Somber quiet followed them on their way back to their house, and Razler's thoughts whirled the whole way. He stepped into their home first and turned on the lights, Hinoka following behind him, where she immediately slumped against the front door, as if shutting something out behind her.

Razler sat down on the floor across from her, fairly sure what she had on her mind. "Thinking about mom?" he asked quietly.

Hinoka nodded. "I... I was wondering who had it worse. Us or Asuna." She shook her head, laughing humorlessly. "It's stupid to even think about it, huh?"

"Maybe... but..."

It had been so long since then... And they'd had so much to think about...

If anything, it bothered Razler more how little their mother's death weighed on his mind anymore. But he remembered the pain of when it happened, the feeling of being left behind, thinking of all the things he'd wanted to do, that he could never do again...

"At least we managed to do something for her," he said hollowly, barely believing his own words.

"I suppose you're right. I don't think this'll be the end of it, though..."

She was right, of course. They'd managed to pull Asuna from the brink, but they weren't out of danger with her just yet. Seriyuha must have realized that. She was better at handling people than Razler or Hinoka, so all he could do was trust in her.

Razler ushered his sister inside, where they warmed their meal for the night. Their dinner was no less animated than their walk home had been, so as his seafood pasta neared running out, Razler offered up, "So what will it mean if Silica actually joins us?"

"It means we get our very own dragon to ride around on," Hinoka said without looking up from her meal.

Razler chuckled. "Sounds more like a lot of work for _you_."

Growling, Hinoka continued stubbornly eating her ravioli. " _Please_ don't remind me. I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight thanks to all the thinking I'm gonna have to do. I gotta plan how we're gonna fight with Pina, but I won't have anything to _go on_ until we've learned more."

She looked up, giving Razler a stern look. "So hurry it up with meeting her tomorrow."

Now it was Razler's turn to glare into his meal. Alone with Seriyuha. Looking up, he saw Hinoka giving him a sly grin, and he just rolled his eyes at her.

He slept quite a bit more easily than he had the last two nights, even though he still lay awake for a time as he thought over the following day. He shouldn't have been as nervous as he was, but he'd known Seriyuha as a guildmaster for much longer than he knew her as a personal friend.

But eventually dawn did come, and Razler found himself waiting at the teleport gate at the side of his guildmaster. It had been a few weeks since he'd last seen the sixty-seventh floor, and as he took it all in once again, he realized why Seriyuha would favor it.

The main village of the floor looked like the courtyard of a ruined castle, one filled with tents in which npcs had their shops and services set up. Some of these tents were offered to players for their own stores as well. The wilderness outside town was strewn with ruined castles and fortress and the wreckage of medieval seige weapons. All of it was overgrown. Whether the idea behind the floor's theme was to reflect a civilization in its final days or a lost fortress being reclaimed by new occupants, Razler wasn't really sure, but he'd come to realize over the years that Seriyuha placed meaning in locations, and this sad yet hopeful floor would be one to strike a cord with her.

Razler sat on the ground with his back to a short ruined wall, trying to avoid staring at Seriyuha while he waited for Silica. His guildmaster was standing facing the teleport gate, nothing shaking her apparent calm. All was quiet for a time as Razler examined the grass at his feet.

"Don't be so uncomfortable," Seriyuha finally said, not unkindly, "Silica might think we've got dark plans for her if she sees you looking like that."

Smiling to himself, Razler nodded. "It's just it's been a long time since we were just hanging out together. Casually, you know. Not since the guild formed and you got us a headquarters."

Seriyuha laughed and finally looked his way, smiling. "I don't _intimidate_ you now, do I?"

Razler looked away and fidgeted. "Well... I wouldn't use that word exactly..." She was being kind about it, but it still seems strange to be in such a personal situation with her.

Seriyuha laughed again. "I'm sorry, I haven't given you or Hinoka as much attention as you two deserve. I've just had a lot of things on my mind these days."

"No, I understand that," Razler said quickly. "It's just-"

Thankfully, he heard the sound of a player teleporting in, and he looked over his shoulder toward the gate, his heart racing. To his relief he saw Silica's small frame materialize on the platform. She stepped through the gate, Pina flying just behind her, and looked around, her expression bright and curious.

"So, this is what sixty-seventh floor looks like!" she said, her mouth agape as she looked around. "It's kinda cool, don't you think, Pina?"

Pina gave a chirp. Razler could only speculate how she could discern any one noise Pina might make from another. Maybe it was just a matter of experience?

Seriyuha stepped forward, clearing her throat softly. Silica gave a sharp, "oh!" and rounded on her, blushing.

"Thank you for coming to meet with me on such short notice," Seriyuha said brightly. "Would you care to join me in my room? I can provide you some refreshments and we can speak in comfort and privacy."

Silica, however, stared at her with slightly-narrowed eyes. "I'm not in trouble, am I? Is this about yesterday?"

"Yes," Seriyuha said without delay. "That impressive show you put on earlier today left me and my guild a bit intrigued-"

Silica immediately grabbed Pina and held her close, causing her to give off a few distressed squeals. "I didn't hack her, if that's what you're wondering!" she snapped.

"Of course not," Seriyuha said quickly but warmly. Silica didn't move toward the teleport gate, but she gave Seriyuha a wary look.

"I may have only seen you and her together for a few moments, but I was able to tell that you love Pina very much," Seriyuha continued. "She's obviously not just ones and zeroes to you, is she?"

"Of course not!" Silica said with no hesitation. "She's my friend! She's always been there for me! I wouldn't have been able to get this far without her!"

"See?" Seriyuha asked, smiling. "So of course you wouldn't do anything like hacking her."

Silica frowned, glanced down at Pina. Razler felt a knot form in his stomach. Maybe Pina wasn't a weapon to _Silica_ , but no matter how much they tried to dress it up, the truth was that they were trying to turn her into a weapon for _them_.

Hopefully Silica wouldn't be too offended when she caught on. Or wouldn't catch on at all.

"So come along, you three!" Seriyuha said as she turned and began walking back to the castle.

Silica gave Razler a questioning look, and he, after a moment, shrugged and jerked his head toward Seriyuha. He started following her first, the sound of Silica's footsteps soon following. She held her pace a few steps behind him for a while, until she sped up and was at his side.

"So you guys really are clearers?" she asked hesitantly.

Razler smiled down at her and said, "Yeah, we're another clearing guild, the Summoner Knights. I guess we didn't really explain that properly."

"It's okay, the last two days haven't made much sense," Silica said quietly. She looked up, right at Seriyuha. "So that lady is your guildmaster?" she whispered, "She's a lot different than Asuna. She reminds me of my mom."

Razler laughed quietly. "You're not the first to think that."

"What does she want with me?" Silica suddenly whispered sharply, her gaze darting right toward him.

"Nothing bad," Razler said quickly. "I wouldn't have called you out if she meant to do any harm to you or Pina."

Silica narrowed her eyes at him, lips pursed just slightly, but she finally nodded and looked back ahead. "Well, we're still in a town, so I'll trust you."

"Thanks."

As they passed through the castle's main gate, Razler expected everything to be drafty, dusty, and desolate, but the inside of the castle was strewn with braziers and npcs working, boarding up holes in some areas and replacing the ruined stone with fresh masonry in others. It was old and crumbling, yes, but there were still strong signs of life within.

"Do they ever make progress rebuilding the castle?" asked Silica.

"No," Seriyuha said, chuckling. "I've lived here for a few weeks and the npcs are always working on the exact same patches of wall."

"Maybe they're just _incredibly_ bad at their jobs," Razler said with a small grin.

Seriyuha laughed a little more.

They walked down a stairway and through a door, leading into a corridor that was lined with doors.

"Luckily," she said as she stopped at one of the doors, "they got the old barracks where players can buy housing completely cleaned and patched up. That was nice of them, wasn't it?"

Seriyuha opened the door and walked through, Razler and Silica following behind her. As Seriyuha turned on the lights (or rather, activated the torches through her interface), the found that they were in the living room of a player home. The walls, floor, and roof were all made from stone, both cobbled and smooth, but Seriyuha had evidently tried to bring some life to things by adding rugs. The room was lit by simple torches, with no windows in sight.

Seriyuha interacted with her fireplace and started a roaring fire, and then took a seat on a large leather chair set not far from the fireplace. She smiled and gestured to the sofa that sat across from her, which Razler and Silica both sat in. Razler noticed that the sofa didn't seem to match the leather chair at all, and wondered to himself if it was a recent purchase.

"None of the houses here have windows, which you might consider gloomy," said Seriyuha, "but it comes in handy when it rains. It's actually quite cozy to just listen to it pounding above, since this room is underground."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Silica.

"Also nice if you wanna sleep in," said Razler.

"I don't often get that luxury," Seriyuha said nicely as she opened her menu.

She summoned up a small plate of pastries, which she set on the table that divided herself from her guests, and invited them to help themselves. Silica immediately thanked her and reached for one, but Razler took his a little more languidly. Razler didn't want to be ungracious – even when it was unlikely Seriyuha had made the treats herself – but Sword Art Online food sucked as a rule.

He nibbled into the pastry as an act of courtesy, but a wave of flavor hit his tongue, making him wince. Before he could stop himself, he immediately shoved the rest of the pastry into his mouth and chewed feverishly. Flaky, buttery crust, creamy filling inside, it was like real food! How had she done it!?

"Thish ish mmzzing! Way bether thnn msshtuff!" Silica cried through a mostly-full mouth of her own.

Razler just nodded, not trusting himself to try speaking.

Seriyuha smiled laughingly at the pair, her head resting on her hands.

Before reaching for his second, Razler sent Seriyuha a private message, How'd you make these?

He saw Seriyuha receiving and reacting to his message on her end, and she chuckled softly before typing a reply on her virtual keyboard.

Asuna made them for me. She was a little abashed about it and she said she doesn't like cooking for other people, but she agreed when I said it was for the good of the clearing party. I'd heard she maxed out her cooking skill.

Razler could almost hit himself. So, the cooking skill wasn't completely useless after all. He'd assumed at first that it was meant to create dishes that either healed players or provided stat buffs – that seemed obvious when compared to how video games usually handled food – but he eventually heard that food in Sword Art Online only ever sated hunger, and that was that. In a game where everyone was fighting for their lives, Asuna had managed to become the now-strongest player in the game despite dedicating a lot of time to mastering a skill that gave her absolutely no direct benefits at all? He couldn't help but admire Asuna's talent.

But also, he was irritated at himself for not training the cooking skill so that he could actually _enjoy_ his meals in this world. He would have to talk things over with Hinoka - for once her experience as a beta tester had failed him.

"Have as many as you like, but be careful not to eat too fast," said Seriyuha.

Silica and Razler helped themselves, though a little more slowly than before.

"So, Silica," Seriyuha said after a couple of minutes and a pastry of her own, "we've already established Pina's transformation isn't a hack, so what _is_ it?"

"You mean how do I do it?" asked Silica. "Well, a month or two ago a new skill, 'Pet Transcendence', appeared in my skill list out of nowhere. All it says in its description is, 'For the most loving owner of a pet, your pet will achieve powers beyond its threshold'."

Razler and Seriyua exchanged glances. That was very similar to the way Kayaba had described Dual Blades; "the player with the best reflexes". Razler's heart began beating faster as Silica continued on.

"So I took Pina out into the field and tried it out. At first she became a lot smaller than she does now but she kept getting bigger and stronger when transformed as I ranked the ability up."

"What's your mastery level with Pet Transcendence?" asked Razler.

"Uhm," Silica said slowly as she opened her menu, "Seven-hundred thirty-two. It's higher even than my knife mastery. I can only use it once every six hours and only for thirty minutes, but it levels up pretty quickly, so that's convenient."

"Do you know how strong Pina gets when transformed?" asked Seriyuha. "Have you ever established a benchmark?"

"Oh she basically _destroys_ normal monsters," Silica said, giving Pina a brief squeeze. The dragon chirped and flared out her feathers as she looked back up. "I think she has a lot of fun rampaging. Maybe it's because she's so small normally and can't really fight, so she gets excited when the tables turn. I tried fighting a couple of field bosses to see how well she does against them. She takes down bosses on earlier floors pretty quickly, but in the fifties – that's where I spend a lot of my time – she can hold off bosses on her own - and I help too. We're okay working together!"

Razler had to stop himself from gaping as Pina. If she were able to fight evenly against the floor-fifty field bosses when helped only by Silica, there was a good chance she could prove _very_ useful against the floor-seventy labyrinth bosses once trained and properly supported by a team.

"That's impressive, doing all that by yourself," said Seriyuha.

Silica beamed at her and puffed her chest out just slightly. "Well I AM level sixty-three. I may not be a clearer, but I'm one of the toughest mid-level players there are!"

Seriyuha smiled back. "I wouldn't think to doubt you."

"So, why are you asking me all of this?" Silica asked suddenly, her smile fading. "Are you just curious?"

"That's partly it," said Seriyuha. "How many other players have you seen with this ability?"

"None, but that's not a surprise," said Silica. "Even now that most players have a better idea how to tame pets, you don't really see many who do. Or at least I don't, and I hang out with a lot of the mid-level players."

Razler knew she was right. Taming pets in Sword Art Online appeared to be a lot more work than it was reward. Pets could be handy with some of their supportive abilities, but they were small, fragile, and poorly-suited to fighting. It was a generally accepted fact that only the smaller pest enemies who didn't pose much threat could be tamed. Some players had apparently gone to great lengths to tame bigger things, but to no avail.

But Razler no longer had any doubt in his mind what Pet transcendence was, no matter how right Silica was about the unpopularity of taming pets in SAO.

"What would you say if I said I believed that your ability was completely unique among players?" Seriyuha asked, her hands clasped in front of her face.

"Why would you think that?" asked Silica. "There can't really be _unique_ abilities in this game, can there?"

"Did you ever hear about Kirito being able to dual-wield swords?"

"Of course, it was on the player newspapers" Silica said, a troubled look on her face. Razler shot Seriyuha a dirty look for bringing up Kirito, but his guildmaster didn't even glance at him. "Everyone was hyped about it," continued Silica, "but I always thought that was just him being really advanced. Are you saying that was something _only_ he could do?"

"Exactly. We learned from the creator of the game itself that there's ten unique abilities in this world, and Kirito's Dual Blades was one of them."

"And..." Silica paused, looking down at Pina, who was nestled in her lap. "You think Pina's ability to transform is one of them?"

Razler looked at her and smiled warmly. "It's not just _her_ ability. It says it right there in the skill that it's only available because of your bond with her."

Razler had hoped that that might lend Silica some strength, but she just flashed him a worried look before turning back to Seriyuha.

"So, what about it? You brought me here to talk about Pina's transformation, and we did. Why did you want to know so much?"

"Because we need your help clearing this game," said Seriyuha. "Yours, and Pina's."

Razler was at first surprised at how blunt Seriyuha was in answering Silica, but as he re-wound the discussion, it became obvious to him that Silica had already guessed what Seriyuha was about to say. And indeed, Silica didn't look surprised at what Seriyuha said, she just frowned and hugged Pina a little closer.

"You really think that we can help you?" said Silica.

"I was confident even before we spoke, and what you told me about Pina's strength only made me more sure," said Seriyuha. She stood and walked closer to her fire, staring at it. "You understand, of course, that field bosses on the higher floors just weren't made to be fought by a single player? Even us clearers would need an ally or two. The fact that you and Pina were able to work together to fight any of them is nothing short of exceptional."

She knelt down before Silica so that the two shared eye level. "We'll show Pina the same respect and care that we would show any other player. She won't be used as a mindless siege weapon. I'm always fighting on the front lines, protecting the other players behind me, and I'll do the same for both you and Pina. This is my promise."

Silica stared at her, her hands shaking. Pina seemed to take notice of her mistress' apprehension, for she gave a soft chirp and nuzzled her head against Silica's cheek.

Slowly, gently, Seriyuha reached out and placed her hands over Silica's. "Razler told me that Kirito saved your life once, and helped you to restore Pina's. There must have been a reason for that, and I believe this is it. Will you please lend us your strength?"

Silica's gaze darted around the room, as if she were looking either for an answer or a way out, but she remained sitting where she was. Razler could only wonder how scared she must have been at the simple thought of going onto the front lines. Mid-level players like her were precisely that and not clearers becuse they feared for their lives, after all.

But finally, and to Razler's private amazement, Silica nodded. "I'll... I'll do what I can to help. Me and Pina, I mean. We'll both do our best!"

Beaming at Silica, Seriyuha stood up and returned to her chair. "And we'll do _our_ best too. What do you understand about how clearing works?"

"Uhm," Silica mumbled slowly. A long, long pause, and then, "Nothing, really. I guess you guys plan how to fight labyrinth bosses then you work together and do it?"

"That's only the last step," Razler said, chuckling. "See, when we open up a floor, first we scout it out, gather information on the local enemies, best grinding spots, places to find new items that can't be found anywhere else, that sort of thing. Anything that'll power us up quickly on the new floor."

"So," Silica said, "do you also like to take floor quests when you get there? Other players I know sometimes complain about the clearers getting all the good rewards before we can."

Razler rolled his eyes and said, "There's nothing stopping them from starting those quests first."

"Oh, I don't do it!" Silica said hastily, "I'm not really worried about that kind of thing!" She gave a slight pouty look and glanced away. "I just wanted to know."

Razler wasn't completely convinced, but decided not to say anything about it. Hate for beta-testers had actually died down months ago - or maybe it was just that all the beta-testers Razler knew were up on the front lines with him, where the players who were the type to complain about them weren't likely to go. Either way, he hadn't missed the whining, especially since his sister was one of the players being complained about. But if the ordinary players were bitching about the _clearers_ too, then things were going a bit too far...

"That's quite all right. Even if you did blame us, you wouldn't be wrong," said Seriyuha. "I think we can sometimes forgot that there's other players out there beside us. But to build on what Razler began saying, once the easy methods of powering up have been exploited, we begin exploring the labyrinth. As the name implies, they're very large dungeons. It usually takes a few days for multiple teams of players to fully map it out. Once we've located the boss chamber, we'll usually send in a small group to observe the boss' habits-"

"Not anymore," Razler said bitterly. Seriyuha gave him a questioning look, and he continued, "do you remember what happened when the Knights of the Blood tried to send a scouting party into Skull Reaper's lair? They got stuck inside because the room was an anti-crystal trap! I wouldn't be surprised if every boss room from here to the top are also anti-crystal traps."

"T-traps?" Silica said, her voice getting shrill. "You mean we can't escape if we're losing?"

"Unfortunately yes, but you don't need to be afraid," said Seriyuha. "My guild has a clever tactician with us. Thanks to her we managed to minimize losses against Skull Reaper."

"Not enough, not when some players still freeze up at the sight of a boss going after them," said Razler.

"And while we're discussing her," Seriyuha said loudly, "would you mind meeting her? She'll probably want to see what Pina can do so that she can begin making plans for fighting bosses with her help."

"Who is it?" asked Silica.

"My older sister," Razler said with a smile. "She was with me in Lizbeth's shop."

"Ohh, the one that was yelling at you and blaming things on you?" asked Silica. To Razler's relief, she was finally smiling, the first time he'd seen her done that in the last few minutes. "Sure, I'll see her!" Silica continued. "What do you think she'll have me do?"

"Oh, you'll know shortly," said Seriyuha. "I asked her to make plans to begin today on the off chance that you agreed."

"Oh!" cried Silica. "R-right now? W-well that's okay too, then!"

Laughing, Seriyuha said, "We can delay if you're uncomfortable, you know."

"No way, you're already taking time out to meet with me, right?

"You aren't wrong," Seriyuha said, smiling kindly at her.

"Okay then!" Silica cried as she got up.

"You're way more eager than I think I'd be in your shoes," Razler said, smiling at Silica as he too stood up.

"Weeeell," Silica said slowly, her cheeks quickly turning red, "actually I'm kinda worried that if we don't get this over with I'll change my mind."

"I think a little bribery might be called for, in that case," Seriyuha said as she picked the still mostly-full plate of pastries up from the table. "You can have the rest of these if you-"

"Oh yes, thank you!" Silica cried, her hands instantly reaching out to take the plate from Seriyuha.

Razler watched with a tinge of jealousy as the plate and its delicious contents vanished into Silica's inventory, schemes to convince Asuna to make more for him already forming. He'd have to put those on the backburner, though.

The trio began retreading their steps back through the castle. Razler noted with some relief that Pina was now riding on Silica's shoulder on the way back instead of being clenched protectively in her hands, and Silica herself was wearing a grin, but he suspected she was considerably more nervous than she was letting on. It was good that she was trying for their sake, at least; they just had to prove to her that she hadn't made the wrong choice.

"What is everyone else doing right now anyways?" he asked as they passed under the castle main gate.

"I asked everyone to gather at the floor seventy-sixth teleport gate so that I could introduce Silica and make an announcement or two," said Seriyuha.

"Everyone in your guild is there?" Silica asked, her eyes wide and round.

"It's not as impressive as it sounds, there's only about twenty of us left now," said Razler.

"Oh, that's not too bad then," said Silica.

Seriyuha gave a good-natured laugh. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nobody bothers you _too_ much."

"Oh well _that's_ good to know," grumbled Silica.

To Razler's relief, however, Silica only pouted at Seriyuha's back for a moment, and then began to eagerly ask him a few other questions on clearing floors. There wasn't much room from the castle main gate to the floor teleport gate so their discussion didn't go very far, but there was still time enough for them to get from, "What's it like exploring the Labyrinths?" to, "So how do you know where to get material drops? I just read the strategy guide booklets you guys write!" Once or twice, Seriyuha shot him a smile or a nod when Silica wasn't looking. Razler was in the middle of explaining the finer points of organized dungeon crawling - Silica listening with rapt attention - when Seriyuha suddenly announced they'd reached the teleport gate.

"Now," she said, turning to Silica, "I won't be disappointed if you'd rather not meet my guild just yet. A _lot_ has happened all at once for you."

"No, that's fine," Silica said quickly and firmly. "Don't worry about me."

Smiling at Silica, Seriyuha turned and stepped onto the gate, her younger companions following her example. One teleportation, later they were standing in the midst of the river village of the seventy-sixth floor. Once Silica got her bearings she gaped down at the sight of the river rushing beneath the wooden platform, and then immediately ran to the edge to get a better look. Razler smiled, reminded of himself from a few days before.

"I wanted to thank you for your help today with Silica," Seriyuha said quietly but warmly. "I don't believe I would have managed to convince her to join us without you there."

Razler cocked an eyebrow at Seriyuha and tried to recall what he might have done. "Are you really sure about that? You were doing all the talking."

Seriyuha smiled and shook her head. "Do you know why I sat you next to her? She knows _you_ a little, she doesn't know _me_. I'm sure she felt at least a little more comfortable not being alone with me. Besides, you don't hold anything back, unlike me. Openness gets people to trust you."

"Oh, okay," Razler said numbly and without being totally convince. Maybe Seriyuha knew better about what she was talking about, but he was no less a stranger to Silica than she was. Either way, things worked out.

"So where's everyone else?" Silica asked as she walked back toward them.

"Off near the boats that take players out of town," said Seriyuha. "I didn't want to let you get jumped by the whole guild the moment you stepped off the platform."

"Thanks for that," Silica said as she turned to scan the village.

Razler could already see them from where he was; twenty-odd individuals standing in a group weren't exactly hard to find. Seriyuha led the way there and asked Silica to stand before her. Seriyuha and Razler's guildmates were in the middle of discussing something when they approached. Keh-keh was the first to notice and pointed them out, quickly resulting in the rest of the guild quieting down and coming to attention.

"Everyone," said Seriyuha, "I have gre-"

"I-I-I'm going to be working with everyone from now on!" cried Silica. She rushed ahead and bowed hastily. "I hope we can all get al-!"

Like a wave crashing, the rest of the guild suddenly surged forward, overtaking the trio and shouting several things at once. Some of them were congratulating Razler and Seriyuha, while others were thanking Silica for her help. Even Hinoka hurried to Razler's side, beamed at the others, and raised his arm high.

"Hear that, everyone? We've got a dragon on our side!" she cried. "So spread the word-"

"ENOUGH!" cried Seriyuha. "Could we all _please_ be a little quieter before we alert _every_ clearer on the floor about this good news?"

Everyone fell quiet _rather_ suddenly and took a few steps back, giving Silica a wider berth. Silica just stared at them, her eyes wide and Pina squirming in her arms.

"Uhm, nice to meet everyone!" she managed to get out. "Thanks for the warm welcome!"

"A little _too_ warm," Seriyuha said quietly, her arms crossed. "Let's not scare her away before she even decides to join us properly, shall we?"

"Oh c'mon," Elise cried, one hand on her hip, you can't blame us for being excited about getting a dragon on our side."

"And we also get Silica, don't forget her," muttered Lloyd.

Shaking his head, Samson strode toward Silica and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about them, Silica, we'd be glad to have you with us!"

"When're we telling the other clearers about Silica?" asked Lyle.

"I'm gong to discuss that with Asuna tonight," said Seriyuha. "We _do_ need to spread the word, but we need to do it carefully. And she hasn't actually decided to join the Summer Knights, she's only agreed to support clearing operations."

Silica shot Seriyuha a nervous glance, and began speaking too quietly for Razler to hear over the discussions going on between the rest of his guild. Stepping forward, he said loudly to Seriyuha, "We didn't bring her here to discuss _that_ , right?"

"No," said Seriyuha, "With Silica with us-"

"I need to decide how to use her, I know," Hinoka said with exaggerated weariness as she stepped forward. Stopping in front of Silica, she nodded to the younger girl. "That's where I come in."

"Oh yeah, Seriyuha said you'd want to speak with me to practice cooperation," said Silica, suddenly open again. "I hope we can get along!"

Hinoka smiled down at Silica and then turned to Seriyuha. "So when'll we begin? Because the sooner-"

"By all means, go ahead with her now," Seriyuha said with a wave of her hand. "We're going to try finishing up the north bank of the river today so we can try exploring that underground cavern soon. Making progress on the Labyrinth - whenever we find it - will be slow until Asuna can actually help us clear."

Razler stared at her for a moment, until he remembered Kayaba's grace period he set aside for Asuna. Even though she seemed to be out of danger, there was still over ten days left before she'd be able to fight enemies again.

"Actually there's something we learned about that," said Lloyd. "I forgot to report this last night but I spoke with an npc near the north bank, he informed me that those giant crocodiles gather at the end of the river during the day and then move upriver to the crossing at night."

"What does that mean, though?" asked Lyle.

"The underground cavern is most likely all the way downriver, trying to go in with those monster crocodiles down there could be a death trap," said Lloyd.

"I agree with Lloyd," Hinoka said almost instantly.

One hand on her hip, Seriyuha narrowed her eyes at the river. "Which means-"

"We're hunting those monster crocs tonight, aren't we!?" Elise cried. The axewoman was practically bouncing on her heels, her eyes glowing.

"One thing at a time," said Seriyuha. She looked out toward her guild. "Would anybody like to help Hinoka with getting Silica situa-"

"Oh, I would!" cried Elise. Without even being invited, she dashed over to Silica and Hinoka, smiling broadly. "I wanna see Pina in action, please let me go! There's still time before the croc hunt anyways!"

Hinoka exchanged a slightly annoyed glance with Razler. There was no way they were going to contain Elise's exuberance that time.

"You know this isn't about watching Pina smash things, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but we'll get there eventually, I'm sure!"

Rolling her eyes, Hinoka turned back to the others. Flashy, Samson, and Lyle agreed to come along, while Seriyuha and the rest of the guild departed to continue mapping out the floor. Once they were alone, the smaller group went to a secluded part of the village to sit down and plan their day. Almost as soon as they were seated Hinoka launched into questions for Silica, asking what Pina could and couldn't do while transformed and whether Silica had done this or that or the other thing with her yet. Razler tried to pay attention throughout, as did Lyle, Samson, and Flashy, but Elise seemed to lose interest fairly quickly into the talk.

At one point Hinoka suddenly slouched on her bench, arms crossed. "Well it seems like Pina's best used as a tank for the rest of the guild since she can't fly."

"Were you expecting something else?" asked Flashy.

"No, but if she could fly that might-"

"You're not going to let her get hurt, are you?" Silica asked sharply her eyes narrowed.

Hinoka immediately sat straight, her eyes firmly on Silica. "Of course not. I take the safety of everyone in our parties as my personal responsibility, and that would include Pina."

Silica and Hinoka locked gaze for several seconds, neither blinking. Razler watched on, curious what the two women might read in one another, until finally Silica nodded. "So when do we start?"

Hinoka gave her a rueful smile. "Right away. I don't have time to do this _right_ since we've still gotta clear the floor, so we'll have to make this into a crash course and hope for the best."

"That's hardly the Hinoka way," Samson said, smirking.

"I'm sorry," said Silica, "this must be annoying, huh?"

"Not in the way you're thinking," said Hinoka. "The time spent doesn't bother me, I'm just upset we won't have time to do things as thoroughly as I'd like."

"Well," she added loudly, glancing toward the others, "anybody got a good idea for where we can put Pina and Silica through their paces?"

"We can take on-," Elise said instantly.

"No."

"But it'd be great-"

"We're not taking on the giant crocs!" snapped Hinoka. "Any ideas that don't involve us being stranded once Pina's _thirty minute_ transformation ends?"

"We can keep fighting after she's shrunk back down," muttered Elise.

"What if we tried that mantis man swarm on the sixty-ninth floor?" said Flashy. "That's not too hard and we'd definitely need to work together with just us here."

Hinoka nodded, smiling at Flashy. "That can work, any disagreements?"

"I still wanna fight the 'gators..."

"I'll take that as a no."

But Silica looked around wildly. "'Mantis Men'?"

Samson strode forward and gave Silica a light pat on the back, smiling. "Don't worry, they're small fry!"

Silica looked around at the others. Razler guessed she was trying to read something off of them, so he stepped forward as well. "We've all done this raid a few times, so it won't be any trouble for us."

"Let's fight the Mantis Men, then!" Silica said, though Razler could just barely see her arms shake as they held Pina. "I've never seen the sixty-ninth floor, so this could be fun!"

"Oh, you're in for a _treat_ ," said Lyle.

Having reached an agreement, the small party made a short walk to the teleport gate, Pina moving to perch atop Silica's head. Razler paused to glance at the tiny dragon, which could comfortable fit her entire body on her master's head. Even after seeing it for himself, it was hard to believe how large Pina could become.

They teleported onto the sixty-ninth floor of Aincrad, a familiar fog obscuring their vision from the moment they arrived. The central village of this floor was a small huddle of tents, its npcs dressed in faded rags. The player homes were rusting metal containers rigged to serve as livable spaces, all largely identical on the inside from what Razler had heard. He didn't particularly believe the rumors, as he'd never seen any sign that anybody actually lived on the floor. The central village was bluntly depressing, and the rest, if anything, was worse.

The sixty-ninth floor of Aincrad was similar to the sixty-seventh in that it the central theme of the floor was 'ruins', but while the sixty-seventh were the ruins of a medieval culture that was being reclaimed, the sixty-ninth was the remnants of a much more advanced one that was lost for all of time. Overgrown and rusted skyscrapers dotted the landscape, and broken-down robots consumed by rampant plantlife were common sights on the floor, but it wasn't plantlife of any sort Razler could identify. The greenery of the floor seemed fond of growing grasping vines that tended to be either to fleshy or too chitinous for his liking, and even the grass seemed reluctant to let rising feet go.

The only still-active machinery on the floor were the few robots that survived long enough to go rogue, attacking everything in sight. However, they were the less dangerous of the two main enemy types for the floor. It was one such group - or swarm, rather - of those more deadly beasts that they'd come to find.

Sililca dashed out from the teleport gate, as she had at on the sixty-seventh floor, but this time her face immediately fell, and she hugged Pina close. She swept her gaze across the horizon, then turned back to her companions.

"We're not going to be here long, are we?" she asked.

"No, we're only here to run a specific field quest and then we can go," said Hinoka.

"That's good."

"This floor is truly depressing," rumbled Samson. "I hated almost every moment we were clearing this place."

"It's unique, but," said Flashy. Then she paused, shook her head, and frowned. "Yeah..."

"Let's get this over with then," Hinoka said firmly, moving with purpose toward the southwest.

The party followed behind her, but she stopped after only a few steps and rounded on Silica, who took a step back.

"Uhh, I just realized..." Hinoka said, her eyes gaze screwed up on the little dragon nestled in Silica's arms.

She watched Pina a moment, a hand on her chin and an uncertain expression on her face. "So. Hi, Pina."

"Pretty sure she won't have much to say," Elise said, smiling at Hinoka.

But Hinoka ignored her, and Pina cocked her head and chirped.

"She knows her name?" asked Hinoka.

"Yeah, she responds to it. Her AI must have recorded it," said Silica.

"Uhh," Hinoka said slowly, and she pointed her finger to a location a few yards to Pina's right. "Fly over there, Pina."

Pina just stared at Hinoka with her little round eyes, and Silica burst into a peal of clear laughter. "Pina doesn't follow orders like that!" she cried. "And besides, I can ride on her back when she transforms and steer her around, so just tell me where to send her!"

"About that," Hinoka said slowly. She was silent for a moment, frowned, and threw her arms up slightly. "Just going to be honest here, you're going to be with Pina whenever we do any serious fighting. You understand, right? If she's not transformed, you get the hell away from the enemies and let us take care of them."

"Oh! Erm, yes. I know," Silica said, frowning. "I am just a mid-level player, after all..."

Razler patted her on the shoulder and smiled down at her. "We just want to make sure you'll be safe, the enemies on the last floors are probably going to be brutal. Don't worry, directing Pina for us in fights is going to be important. Nobody's going to say you weren't useful to our groups."

Silica gave him a feeble smile, and he had to stop himself from chuckling.

"Anyways, please follow me," said Hinoka.

She began walking into the fields, the others following her. Silica remained almost right on her heels, bobbing around and trying to look at every little thing she could, but the others scanned their surroundings more warily, Razler no less carefully than the others. Silica was too interested in the new - if sad - sights to realize the risks of the floor, but once they were far enough onto the field that they encountered their first rogue robot, she paused and reached for her knife.

"That's the first one, huh," she said softly.

The robots moved around in set patrols, but their limbs moved slowly, their servos and gears grating loudly, and their heads rotated only a few degrees before suddenly resetting to their starting point, and exposed wires sparked with electricity. No enemy the players had encountered on Aincrad so far were quite like those automatons. But for all the robots' dilapidation their edged, blunted, or pointed tools grafted onto the ends of their forelimbs were in good working order - Razler knew that from experience.

"Those things are creepy," whispered Silica. "I'm not sure I would have explored this place with just me and Pina..."

"This high up it's pretty dangerous for _anyone_ to go alone," said Elise.

Lyle planted his rapier end-down into the ground and leaned against it. "Yeah, the creatures on the top floors we've managed to reach are starting to get annoying. Way too many of them attack in groups or use really sneaky tricks to catch people off guard."

Hinoka - hoping to avoid exposing Silica to unnecessary danger - blazed a trail that took them around the guard robots where they could, but their path soon took them into the lower hills of the south-western plains of the floor, where the lost skyscrapers and residential buildings gave way to abandoned military buildings. In the distance they could see shapes crawling amongst the ruins. Silica paused a moment to get a better look, but hurried on when the rest continued past her. Razler already knew what to expect, but when Silica finally drew close enough to see them in their terrible glory she stopped again, her mouth agape.

The beasts seemed human at first, but they were bizarre and mishapen, with some having clawed hands, others avian wings, and still more possessing multi-jointed arms.

"Who could have thought of making _these_?" gasped Silica.

"The same bastard that thought of trapping us in this prison," muttered Hinoka.

"Keep behind the rest of us, Silica," said Lyle. "These mutants have a habit of catching you by surprise."

"Are they the ones we're looking for?"

"Not these, but they're no less freaky," said Elise.

Hinoka led them on paths through a winding but narrow canyon, like a deep crack in the mountains. In that small space they came across some mutants they had no choice but to fight, but they made short work of them. As they came closer to their destination a dense fog began to settle on the canyon around them, and signs urging intruders to turn back began to become commonplace. Silica kept closer and closer to Razler as they went.

After nearly fifteen minutes of navigating the narrow passages of the canyon, a shadow loomed into view ahead. As they came near, the shadow revealed itself to be nothing more than a chainlink fence plastered with warnings to keep out, but there was no mistaking the sign of a barrier dividing the normal parts of the floor from a field quest or dungeon area. Silica stared at it, her expression resolute but her arms that gripped Pina trembling slightly.

Hinoka stepped before it and turned to face the others. "Okay, we're here," she said quietly. She squatted slightly to meet Silica's eye level. "On the other side of this gate is a field quest where we're going to have to fight off an army of praying mantis men."

"Really?" asked Silica. "Even after seeing all those other weird creatures on the way here that sounds crazy."

"It's not that bad, most of them aren't that strong and all they can do is swipe at you with their scythe arms," said Hinoka. "Still!" she added, giving Silica a stern look, "this isn't going to be a picnic, and you're going to have to listen to what I say. That's true any time we fight together, understood?"

Silica narrowed her eyes and gave a vigorous nod. "I'll do my best! But... uhh," she stammered, her determined expression immediately giving way to uncertain glancing about, "shouldn't we maybe start smaller?"

"Ideally, yes," Hinoka said as she rolled her eyes at the sky, "but like I said before, we can't just halt our floor clearing for a month to get you up to speed, and the time limit on Pina's transformation just makes things worse."

"So," she continued, "I already picked up the quest for this area from an npc back in town, so once we go inside it'll trigger."

Hinoka first looked up toward her guildmates. "This exercise is mostly meant to see how well we can have Silica and Pina work together with us. Since none of us are used to having a boss-level monster fighting on our side, I want all of you to take this seriously. There's no telling what could end up happening, so have your teleport crystals ready!"

The knights nodded and began looking through their inventories, as did Razler. There, at the top as they always were, were his trusted teleport crystals. Even with the threat of future labyrinth bosses being anti-crystal traps, they were still a vital lifeline. He retrieved one from his inventory and stored it in one of his waist pouches.

Hinoka knelt down to Silica's level again. "Like I said, the way we're likely to end up using Pina in the future is as a sort of seige engine. That's part of why we're starting with something like this; I want to see how well she does at scattering crowds of weak enemies. We're going to do our _absolute_ _best_ to keep her safe, I promise."

"I understand," Silica said firmly.

"Are you comfortable with my plan? Please tell me if you aren't," said Hinoka.

"No, it's fine," Silica said as she shook her head slowly. "I understand. As long as Pina doesn't get hurt... it's okay."

"We can see her health bar, so that's a good thing," Hinoka said with a glance toward Pina. She stood back up and addressed the knights again, "Pina's going to be leading the way here, the rest of us will follow closely at her sides and make sure she doesn't have to fight too many of them all at once."

"I'll have Intimidating Shout at the ready!" cried Lyle.

"You do that," Hinoka said dryly before looking down at Silica again. "Is there a way to heal Pina during fights?"

"Oh sure, just feed her some nuts, her favorite food!" said Silica. "It works just like health potions for us!"

"If her health starts to drop, lead her to the rear of the group and we'll move in to cover your retreat."

Silica nodded.

"And that goes for every fight we do with Silica in general!" Hinoka said loudly and firmly, to the agreement of the rest of the knights.

"That should cover everything," Hinoka said as she turned toward the gate. "If any of you have any concerns, bring them up now!" she called out.

Nobody said anything. Hinoka glanced back over her shoulder as if to view and confirm the silence, and nodded. "Then we're going in."

She gave a hard shove at the gate with both hands, parting it easily, and strode through the thick fog that lay just on the other side. Razler followed directly behind her, sword in hand. Once they were on the other side of the gate, Hinoka drew her naginata and held it ready. Silica was the next to enter. She gazed uncertainly at the valley, Pina held tight in her arms. It was simpler than one might expect from a quest area on an upper floor, as it was nothing but a valley leading upward at a gentle incline and into a distant fog. Lyle, Samson, Elise, and Flashy brought up the rear, each with weapon in hand.

There was no sign of the impending mantis army, but Razler knew them to be coming. He had participated in this quest a few times, as it provided one of the fastest leveling experiences on the floor. If nothing else, Silica and Pina were likely to come out of this with a level or two under their belts.

"Once we step over a certain threshold ahead of us, the quest starts," said Hinoka. "You'd better have Pina transform," she added quietly to Silica.

"Ah! Right," Silica said as she snapped to attention. She gave Pina the order, and again Pina shrouded herself in a flurry of white feathers as she took on her giant form. Silica moved to Pina's side and patted her, and Pina knelt down, allowing Silica to climb easily onto her back. Silica nestled neatly into a small nook in Pina's shoulders, just behind her wings, and nodded down at Hinoka.

Hinoka gave a few confident steps forward, and suddenly a piercing, warbling shriek filled the canyon, causing Silica to give a fearful cry. Hinoka immediately fell back to Pina's side, and the rest of the knights spread out, leaving Pina at the front of the group.

A rumbling sounded from the far end of the canyon, and Silica looked around wildly.

"They're not going to sneak up on us," said Razler.

She gave him a questioning look, and he pointed toward Pina with his sword. Looking down, Silica saw that her companion wasn't wildly scanning this way and that as she was; Pina was staring straight ahead, crouching low and eyes narrowed. The empowered dragon growled at the air, wisps of vapor billowing from her maw. Nodding, Silica turned her attention forward and patted Pina softly on the neck.

The rumbling and the screaming grew louder, and Razler spun his sword around in-hand. There was nothing to be concerned with, they'd done this before.

Though usually with greater numbers.

And then _they_ appeared. Barreling down the slopes of the canyon ahead was a huge green mass, a disorganized mob of humans covered in greenish scales. Their upper bodies were particularly corrupted and consumed, their arms ending in scythes and rounded insectoid lenses replacing their eyes. Wings sprouted from their shoulders and twitched in agitation. Pina leaned down, stretching her body out long. She gave a roar that shook the canyon, but the thundering of the approaching army was louder still.

Silica cried out and leaned back, and Pina looked up at her briefly before she, too, began taking steps back. The rest of the knights noticed and shared uncertain glances. When it came down to it, Silica's courage was likely to break, which would force them to retreat.

Razler realized he had to do something, and stepped forward. "We've done this before, everyone!" he cried. "And we all know there's nothing to fear as long as we work together. Now let's and fight! Our only way out is through, that's the law of this world!"

"Yeah," Elise said quietly, "that's right, these bugs are just small-fry! Squash 'em all!"

"They come at us by the thousands but we've slain our tens of thousands!" cried Samson.

Silica shot Samson a horrified look, but Flashy quickly said, "He's being dramatic, there's not really thousands of them."

Silica looked down at Razler, and he nodded to her. She narrowed her eyes. "Pina, forward!" she said, resolve straining against fear in her tone.

Growling, Pina took a few slow steps toward the mantis men army. The swarm was wholly visible from the fog and filled the valley so that no gap in the green mass could be seen. And every one of them were headed for the players with no desire but to rend and tear.

And when they finally came near to Pina, they leaped forward, their wings opening and letting them glide the remaining few yards, scythe arms raised. But Pina simply lunged with her open mouth, her teeth shredding them to ribbons. Razler stared for a moment, his body numb and his eyes wide. Pina tore huge jagged chunks out of their pixels, and their bodies shattered. A dozen more came upon her and began slashing at her neck and head with their sickle arms, but all they got for their troubles were small chinks in Pina's scales – and large cracks in their weapons. Pina's health gauge dropped only a sliver, and she lashed out at them with her front paw, scattering a horde of them. A few managed to pick themselves off the ground. Most did not.

But the mantis men kept up the pressure, an unrelenting horde of them bearing down on Pina. She shredded dozens with a single snap of her maw or swipe of her claws, but two more would replace every one that fell. The knights moved in to cover Pina's sides, forming a wall at her shoulders to force the mantis men to remain within her reach. It proved a useful arrangement, with the knights preventing Pina from being surrounded, and Pina preventing the knights from being crushed under sheer numbers. Razler often struck one down and turned to another, only for a light blue blur to shoot past his vision and kill a dozen of the mantis men in a single swoop.

He couldn't help but grin goofily as he saw how quickly she tore into the creatures. Razler had expected Pina to be strong, but these were creatures that could endure a solid blow from him, strong as he was.

They _definitely_ had a chance with her.

Although the mantis men still traded blows with the knights, most of their focus was on Pina, and Razler guessed she was enduring more attacks than she or Silica were used to. Her health depleted slowly but surely through the fight, and eventually it fell below the half-way mark. They'd only been fighting for about ten minutes, and this was a raid that was known to last in the neighborhood of forty. He wasn't quite sure what Hinoka had planned when Pina's thirty minutes was up. He could only imagine that Hinoka was thinking that they'd finish sooner than usual. Hopefully she'd be right.

But either way, Pina was starting to show wear and tear.

"Are you doing okay?" he called up to Silica. He had to repeat himself before she looked down at him.

"Y-yes, I think we're fine, but Pina's health... It's never gotten this low when she was like this..."

"It should be okay!" Hinoka called out as she ran one of the mantis men through. "We're already over halfway through!"

"What!?" cried Lyle.

"Yeah!" replied Hinoka as she killed another. "We've already killed over half of the total mantis men!"

The knights all fell quiet, except for the sounds of their continued fighting against the mantis men. Now, Razler was certain. Having Pina on their side was absolutely a turning point in their strategies. He glanced at Hinoka, to get a read for how she was feeling. She too was grinning. As Hinoka promised, gaps in the waves of mantis men began to open up. The flood started to ebb, until finally he could see no more coming from the other end of the canyon.

Soon it became a matter of cleanup. The knights and their ally dragon charged forward, pushing the remains of the mantis man army backward, until their numbers dwindled to only a few dozen, and those too were slain in short order. The dust finally began to settle, and the fog on the other end of the canyon lifted, letting the sun shine on them - the signal for the end of the event.

Silica slipped off of Pina's back and very nearly stumbled, her legs shaking hard.

"Wow, we did it!" she said, her voice wavering. "I was worried that something would go wrong, but we all pulled through!"

The knights immediately huddled around her, each of them celebrating and thanking her. She looked up, blushing intensely, and stammered a few words of reply to their gratitude.

A little concerned, Razler stepped into the crowd and began pushing them away from Silica. "Okay, okay, give her some room to breathe, everyone!" he said loudly.

She gave him a grateful look, and Pina laid her head low to the ground just behind him and Silica.

"Razler's right, let's not get _too_ excited," Hinoka said as she made her way through the crowd and toward her brother. "But," she said once she was out in front, "that went way better than even I had hoped."

"Pina reacted to our needs pretty well," she continued, looking at Silica, "were you directing her or did she do that on her own?"

A puzzled look on her face, Silica glanced at Pina briefly. "What do you mean? She was just killing the mantises, wasn't she?"

"It might have been a coincidence, but she often attacked where their numbers were starting to get overwhelming," said Hinoka. "We really needed more players for this quest than what we brought, but I was willing to risk that we could manage it with Pina's strength."

"It's not like you to take risks!" said Elise.

Hinoka placed her hands on her hips and grinned smugly at her. "But it paid off," she said. "And it looks like Pina works pretty well with others."

Silica giggled and threw her arms around Pina's head, crying, "Of course she does!"

"So what's next?" asked Razler.

"Well I doubt Pina's transformation will last much longer," Hinoka said, giving Silica a deliberate look.

"Oh yeah," Silica said as she opened her menu, "Pina's transformation is a status buff, so... a little over twelve minutes left."

"That's not long enough to do anything else," Hinoka said instantly, "so we'll have to stop here for now, and Seriyuha will want to hear about how this went. Do you mind if I contact you to meet up for more work in twelve hours?" she asked Silica.

"No, that's fine!" said Silica. "I'll just decide what to do with some of the quest loot I got."

Hinoka smiled at her. "That sounds great. Just be careful about exploring higher floors like we talked about, okay?"

"Don't worry!"

That settled, Hinoka faced the knights. "The rest of us will return to the seventy-sixth floor and link up with the rest of the guild. We've got to find a way to get into the labyrinth."

With their plans set, the knights escorted Silica back to the central village, their journey back being one of the merriest that Razler could remember having in a long time. Upon returning, Silica immediately went off in the direction of the npc blacksmith – a functioning and not-rogue robot.

Razler watched Silica leave, smiling, and Hinoka came up from behind and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"It was lucky we ran into her, this is going to do a lot to getting everyone's spirits up," she said quietly.

"Yeah," he said.

With just Pina and Silica, only one of the supposed eight missing unique skills, they'd done something impressive. Razler had already seen Kirito and Heathcliff do amazing things with their own skills. Seriyuha was right: gathering the users of the remaining unique skills was their key to escaping SAO.

Just as Hinoka went to open her menus to send Seriyuha a private message, a window suddenly flashed open in front of her. Razler watched as she read what he imagined was a private message, a worsening frown on her face as she continued on. Finally she swore, drawing the attention of the others.

"Some _idiots_ from one of the smaller guilds decided to take it upon themselves to check the end of the river without talking it over with the rest of us," she announced.

"I take it they didn't have a fun time?" asked Lyle.

"They got attacked by those giant crocs while they were floundering in the river current. Two of them got killed pretty easily, and the third panicked and used a teleport crystal to get to safety."

"Then that's it, those crocodiles must be there to guard the end of the river," said Samson, "they might even be the labyrinth guardian boss."

"Yeah," Hinoka said quietly, her gaze straying toward Silica. "I wonder if Pina isn't up for fighting other reptiles..."

* * *

I'm really bad at writing these sort of big swarm battle scenes, but honestly this seems to be the sort of thing that would get old to read OR play about, so I hope you won't hold that one against me :D


	6. Many Kinds, Many Places

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

 _I didn't really know what to expect from the second floor before we got there. I hadn't really given it much thought. Back then I was just focusing on_ surviving _in this world, not on going out to take in the sights or wonder what was coming next. If I'd paused to think about what might lay ahead (or above, rather), I might have even guessed each floor was like the first: a fairly generic grassland for a main area, with the side areas featuring more interesting geography.  
_

 _I was wrong, of course. Castle Aincrad would soon reveal itself to have many_ many _environments. Back then I didn't pause to think about the purpose of all of them - at least in the game's lore._

 _But I received a hint that I didn't recognize even that early on._

 _And alongside it, I learned that the_ people _I met going up would change just as much as the floors did._

* * *

It was a few hours into the opening of the second floor - they'd had to return to the Town of Beginnings to use the teleport gate, after all - before they finally set foot on the new play space. Shirou was blasted by a warm, dry wind the moment the light of teleportation faded, and he winced. After a second or two he carefully opened his eyes, and saw that it was darker wherever he was now than the Town of Beginnings had been. Once he could finally see, he found himself surrounded by buildings that looked far more rugged than those in the starting city. So this was another town.

It was shady wherever he was, but not because of the buildings. They weren't that tall. Craning his neck upward, he saw a cliff wall looming high in the distance. Looking around, he saw the cliff enclosed the city. The city must have been built in a crater or a canyon, though he couldn't tell whether it was natural or artificial.

"Welcome to Urbus, everyone," said Chigusa. Hands on her hips, she was looking this way and that. "Hasn't changed much from the Beta, but I wouldn't expect it to."

"What's this floor like?" asked Seriyuha.

"Mostly savanna and mountains," said Chigusa, "lots of ox and buffalo enemies, they won't pull any tricks on us but they're a lot tougher than the stuff we saw on the first floor."

Shirou grimaced the mental image of a buffalo running him down. And he'd thought the _boars_ seemed bad. "Think we'll be okay out there?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Chigusa said with a wave of her arm, "after all the fighting we did back on the first floor we'll be fine as long as we're smart out there."

"Where do you think we should go first?" asked Seriyuha. She was facing Chigusa, apparently satisfied with her inspection of Urbus.

"I think we aught to cut straight south to a range called Dragon Valley. Large lizards spawn there that give pretty good exp if I remember right," said Chigusa.

Seriyuha opened her mouth and Chigusa quickly added, "Also, only us beta testers will know about it. That was coming next, huh?"

Seriyuha grinned back. "Yes. Like back on the first floor, we should focus on seeing how strong we can get."

"So are we actually going to help with the Labyrinth this time?" asked Shirou, though he could guess the answer.

"I actually do have a reason why I think we should keep away from them," said Seriyuha. She smiled warmly at the pair. "I understand it must be frustrating, but please be patient with me for a while longer."

Shirou and his sister exchanged glances. He was surprised - and he suspected she was as well - that Seriyuha had given them something approaching an explanation. That was an improvement. She'd given them good advice up to that point, so he guessed the least he could do was trust her a while longer.

"Well," Chigusa said as she began moving away from the teleport gate, "this floor ain't getting any smaller, so let's see what we can pick up in town and then-"

"Hey! Hey you there!"

Suddenly frowning, she turned, hand on her hip, toward the source of the disturbance. A few yards in the distance, in the middle of a public square, was a decent-sized gathering of what Shirou could guess were players. There was a little over twenty in number, most still wearing bits and pieces of their newbie gear. At the center of them was a somewhat angry-looking player with spiky brown hair. And he was watching the trio as they went.

"What do you-" Chigusa began hotly as Seriyuha stepped between her and the crowd.

"What is it?" Seriyuha asked, far more calmly than her younger companion.

"The name's Kibaou and I'm out here to gather a party to clear this floor!" the loud man cried.

Seriyuha smirked as Kibaou spread his arms and continued talking.

"-And you're the leader of this group?" she asked loudly over him.

"Yeah!" Kibaou cried instantly. "See, our last leader brought us together to take on the boss of the first floor, but because of that damn Beater he died, so I took it upon myself to keep everyone together."

Shirou narrowed his eyes at the strange word Kibaou had used. "Beater"? He'd have to ask Chigusa about it later.

Scattered cries from his group went up in support of his claim. Kibaou allowed himself to grin just slightly at the praise. "Anyways, now that Diabel's gone somebody has to carry on his legacy, right? Somebody's gotta gather all the ordinary players to clear this game, because we sure as hell can't trust the Beaters to do anything!"

There was that weird word again, "Beater". Both times he'd said it, Kibaou's brow furrowed a little more than what appeared to be usual for him.

"What's a Beater?" Shirou whispered to Chigusa.

"Not a clue," she said. But her fists were clenched though, giving Shirou a hint at what the word _might_ mean.

Looking back toward Seriyuha, Shirou saw that their leader was approaching Kibaou slowly, arms crossed. As she came up to the spiky-haired man, she stood nearly a full head taller than him. Shirou had noticed a time or two that Seriyuha was strikingly tall, but it was only when he saw her standing next to Kibaou that it really struck home. Apparently unbothered, Kibaou stretched his hand out to her, grinning wide.

"While I agree with your cause, if we joined forces I'd have to answer to you. I'm not sure I could handle that sort of thing," Seriyuha said, her smile undimmed.

Kibaou's smile faded in an instant, and he leaned in toward her, hands balled at his side. "Hey! Are you calling me a crap leader!?"

Seriyuha leaned back, arms crossed. If anything she only looked taller next to Kibaou in that moment. "Of course not, I've never seen you in action. I'm simply the type that likes to be in charge. A leader should embody the most-"

"Eh, fine, whatever the hell you mean," Kibaou growled. The man turned aside, back toward his followers. "Just thought maybe you wanted to try out that safety in numbers stuff, but if you wanna stick to yourself go ahead. Just don't come crying to me if something goes wrong."

"I hope that never happens - to either of us," Seriyuha said as she began walking back toward her companions. Once she rejoined them, she turned south. "In that case, let's-"

"I actually did have one last question for you," Chigusa said loudly to Kibaou.

Kibaou turned, glaring at her. "Spit it out, then."

"You were complaining about 'Beaters', what did you mean by that?"

"Oh," Kibaou growled. A low buzz of talk broke out among his collection of players, but he practically yelled out over them, "Well you know how those damn beta testers just took all the good grinding spots and quests and left the rest of us high and dry? The only reason Diabel died was because this bastard beta tester in our last group kept his mouth shut about what the floor one boss could do. He just let Diabel die so he could get the last hit on the boss! Damn scum."

Something like a jolt shot through Shirou. This story went far beyond rumors he'd heard of supposed beta tester selfishness. Unable to control himself, he shot a glance at Chigusa, who was staring at Kibaou with eyes as round as saucers.

"No way... I can't believe somebody would do that," she mumbled.

"Yeah, can you believe it? Pulling crap like that's cheating in my book, so we called him a beater! You know, beta tester, cheater?"

"Yes, though you could have chosen a more elegant portmanteau," said Seriyuha.

"Bah, weren't you leaving? We've got plans to make, get lost!"

Seriyuha gave Kibaou the briefest of nods and began walking away. Shirou grabbed his sister gently by the arm and steered her toward Seriyuha, but Chigusa needed no further motivation to begin walking. They remained quiet until they were some ways away from Kibaou, but nobody would have been able to eavesdrop on them over his renewed boisterous yelling.

"Well, that ended badly," Seriyuha said as they came upon a street that was lined with vendors. "Keep an eye out for anybody following us until we're away from the city."

"Kibaou doesn't strike me as being gifted in the guile department," Shirou muttered as he glanced back toward the square.

"I agree, but better safe than sorry."

"I can't believe anybody would use another player as a sacrificial lamb," muttered Chigusa. "People like that are only going to make us beta testers look worse."

"You might want to lay off the beta tester talk," Seriyuha said quickly and quietly.

"Right," said Chigusa. She growled, arms crossed. "Shit, and back when this game first came out I had all these plans to help out new players get adjusted to this place, then all this happens. That bastard Kayaba has a lot to answer for."

"That's the truth," muttered Shirou. "Maybe we should hurry up and reach this Dragon Valley so we can lose the ordinary players for a few days?"

"Right," said Seriyuha. She scanned the street briefly, probably formulating her plan. "Take a few minutes to stock up on anything you need, then we'll meet up at the south gate and get going."

"We'll be away from any towns for at least a day, so get anything you need while we're still here," said Chigusa. "I'll get all the stuff we'll need on the plains and in Dragon Valley, so don't worry about picking up any extras."

"Excellent," Seriyuha said as she beamed at Chigusa. "No matter what that loud fool says, I consider you one of the most helpful people I've met here in SAO."

Chigusa blushed lightly. "T-thanks," she said, smiling back.

The trio broke apart, each making for the NPC storekeepers. Shirou watched his sister for a few minutes, but once he was convinced that Chigusa was fine - if still a little annoyed - he focused on his own business instead. After stocking up on consumables, he made for the blacksmiths, only to find Seriyuha sticking out from another the handful of players who'd had the same ideas as her and him.

"Hey, been a while," he said as he approached.

She glanced at him and smiled briefly before focusing back on the NPC's wares. This one in particular seemed to favor axes. Shirou intended only to look at them for a brief while but soon found himself closely examining the different ways people had found to attach blades to the end of sticks. It was interesting, the difference in killing power you could get from changes in axehead weight or angle. Seriyuha, meanwhile, was favoring a particularly fierce-looking halberd.

"This might do," she said, grinning up at it. "Better reach from behind my shield. I can actually thrust with it, unlike my axe."

Shirou grinned at her, though he was surprised to find Seriyuha enjoying herself with something like picking out a new item. "And also, a leader should embody the most badass weapon available," said Shirou.

"Well, I'd certainly look more impressive than Kibaou with that little one-handed sword he had," she said without looking at him. Though she did allow herself to smirk. "How about you? Considering leaving behind your own sword?"

"It doesn't feel much better than the old one, honestly," said Shirou. "At first I thought it seemed right, but I dunno now."

"Try one of my older axes, then," Seriyuha said as she finalized her purchase with the NPC. "It's upgraded, so it should hold up fine, and it won't be too heavy for you since you're used to that saber."

Shirou stared at her, surprised by the generous offer. "Thanks! Sounds fine to me, but I'm not sure if I have anything you'd like."

"Don't worry about it," Seriyuha said as she opened her menu. "Think of it as an early Christmas present!"

"Oh wow, thanks, whatever should I get you?" he muttered, though he continued smiling at her.

"Besides, this way you owe me one," she added, smirking at him.

Shirou gave her a dirty look as she completed the one-sided trade, though she just smiled on at him all through it. They parted ways after that, Seriyuha off to examine other stores, while Shirou stayed put to examine upgrade options for his new weapon. As he strode away from the blacksmith he drew the new axe, getting a feel for its weight. As he swung it a few times - noting quickly the weight emphasis on the end of the shaft - he realized that this was the first kind of weapon he'd wield with a completely new style to activate "sword" skills. Examining his skills list, he found that nearly all of the skills associated with axes - or at least the low-level ones- were performed with swinging motions. That made sense, at least.

Well, he'd have time to get used to this. The players in SAO no longer had anything _but_ time to play Kayaba's game.

The edge of the cliff that surrounded the city loomed straight ahead as Shirou reached the south gate. He only had to wait a few moments before Chigusa and Seriyuha arrived, and then the trio turned their gazes outward. The only thing outside the city was some sparse shrubbery and several players, all of them headed toward the edge of the cliff wall.

"So this city is inside some sort of canyon?" asked Seriyuha.

"Something like that, yeah," said Chigusa. "There's a bunch of stairways leading up into the top of the cliff, and from there we can go south."

"Let's not waste time then," said Seriyuha.

With that decided, the team began walking. As he passed under the city gate, Shirou allowed himself to stare up into it, remembering the day months ago that he first walked into one of SAO's fields.

But this was different. There was no sprawling countryside waiting to be explored, just a towering wall before him, demanding a climb. However, they hadn't gone more than a few yards away from town until they saw the familiar red color cursor that indicated hostile mobs. In this case they were squat quadrupedal frilled lizards, "Runner Lizards". The creatures scurried this way and that, apparently unbothered by the presence of the players. They moved with speed even while not aggroed, drawing an eye-narrowed gaze from Shirou.

"These aren't anything dangerous," said Chigusa, "they're just fast. None of us are using very light weapons, so this might be a pain."

Seriyuha flourished her halberd and smiled. "Just as well, I've been looking for a chance to try this out."

She dashed past Chigusa, shifted her grip on the weapon closer to the head, and swung wide at the "Runner Lizard". Shirou watched the blade soar through the air, but the lizard's eyes suddenly gleamed, and it leaped away, spitting a thick wad of mucous at Seriyuha as he flew through the air. Seriyuha's sweep went wide, and the gunk splatted against her with a wet smack, dropping her health a little. Shirou stared on, just as surprised as Seriyuha seemed.

The lizard landed on its four feet and extended its grill. It remained where it was, hissing at Seriyuha.

But Seriyuha just stood there, glaring at it. "That damn thing just _spat_ at me."

Slowly she turned to Chigusa, no less angry. "Did you know that would happen?"

Shirou glanced at his sister as well. It _did_ seem strange that she didn't knowing anything about the lizard's trick.

But Chigusa was actually grinning at Seriyuha, her hands behind her head. "I _might_ have known something about this floor being the first one where enemies will react to attacks they can see as if they were already aggroed."

Twirling her spear around, she let loose a skill, splitting the runner lizard apart. "But if I did know, I certainly wouldn't hide it from you to let you look silly."

"You'd do well not to annoy the team tank," Seriyuha muttered.

"All right, all right, I think it's my turn," Shirou said as he stepped forward, his new axe spinning in hand.

"Yes," Chigusa said, clapping vibrantly, "I can't think of any weapon better for hitting small agile lizards!"

"Maybe he'll surprise us," said Seriyuha.

"Thanks," he muttered.

It wasn't hard to find another lizard; they were everywhere. Shirou strode up to the creature from behind and swung his axe, but the little beast darted away, letting loose its counterattack projectile. Expecting the shot, Shirou blocked with his buckler and lunged forward with an axe skill to try again, but the lizard crawled away from the second attack as well, and then circled around and raised its front paw. Claws out, it raked Shirou's ankle and leaped back, hissing. He turned and lunged his axe at it, but his clumsy attack went wide.

His health was fine but his pride was wounded. Chigusa had done the creature in with just one attack... But then, she was using a weapon she was already used to. He glanced at Seriyuha, the person who used the axe last, and thought of the way she used it. He was trying to fight his way, but with her weapon. That was a mistake.

Once more he ran in on the lizard and swung, and it darted aside, but this time he kept his eyes carefully on it. As it stopped he quickly swung his shield toward it, meeting and repelling the inevitable attack from the lizard. While the lizard reeled back, he brought his axe down on it. Its health quickly dwindled away to nothing.

"Hey, not bad," Chigusa said as she slapped Shirou on the back. "Nice job learning from the tank!"

Shirou smiled wide at his partners, his axe propped over his shoulder. Then he turned, and saw they were still surrounded by the little lizards. Well, one down...

"These things are a pain in the ass to fight alone, though," he muttered, his smile fading.

"Luckily, we're not alone," said Seriyuha.

The siblings shared a glance, silently agreeing with her.

They fought through the Runner Lizards between them and the wall, but they didn't go out of their way to grind on the creatures. Once they made it to the wall, it took only a few minutes of searching to find the stairway that Chigusa had mentioned. The crater actually had several stairways carved into the side of the mountain, each ending at different points along the top of the crater wall. Shirou set foot upon the first step and looked up, quickly losing himself in the steps before him. Individual steps went up and up, the top of the stairway behind his sight.

"This is gonna take a while," he muttered. Fatigue of the body wasn't something that they could fully experience in SAO, but this stairway was going to put that to the test.

"No kidding," said Seriyuha.

Shirou glanced at her, surprised to see Seriyuha joining in his complaining.

"We won't need to return to Urbus often, will we?" she asked.

"No, there's a settlement near the edge of Dragon Valley that we can stay at," said Chigusa. "And I brought some camping sets for on the way."

"Good thinking," Seriyuha said as she began climbing.

Shirou looked up one last time, groaned, and stepped onto the first step. On he went, resolutely walking. One foot in front of the other, that was the key. A few minutes passed, the rock walls on either side inching closer and closer as they went. He wondered whether the walls would eventually get too close to continue comfortably. He didn't feel much tiredness, but the climb was monotonous.

"Anybody know any good hiking tunes for this one?" he asked.

"No, I was never an outdoors type," said Seriyuha, "my kids were-"

"Oh wow!" cried Chigusa, "look at the city behind us, we're so high up!"

Shirou almost did as she asked before he stopped himself.

"No, not doing it," he said.

"No, c'mon, the view's great."

"No Hinoka."

Surprised, Shirou saw that Seriyuha was stubbornly keeping her back to his sister as well. He grinned quietly up at her.

"You two are missing a great view, though," Hinoka said sullenly. The sound of her footsteps trailing behind resumed, and they continued on.

Up and up they went, Shirou looking above to see where the steps would end. In actuality he finally saw the line of steps come to an end after only a little more than ten minutes, but it felt much longer in the face of the monotony of the task before him. As he finally approached the last set of steps the glare of the sun caught in his eyes, forcing him to cover them until they adjusted. His feet met no further steps. They must have reached the top.

"Now _that's_ a view," Seriyuha said as Shirou stumbled blindly past her.

Shirou forced himself to open his still-stinging eyes, and the brightness slowly cleared from them. Once he could finally see the horizon ahead of him, he let out a long whistle before he even knew he was doing it. Golden grasslands, mostly flat, stretched as far as the eye could see. They were dotted here and there by shocks of green - mostly trees but sometimes other shrubs - and the occasional lake or river. Further still in the distance he could just make out the brown of mountains ahead. In other directions the view was mostly the same, except for the occasional plateau that were spread here and there throughout the land.

Several player parties could be seen going this way and that, though most seemed to be heading for the plateaus.

"Well, welcome to floor two," Chigusa said as she finished the climb. "You wouldn't believe it from the look of it but this floor's a little smaller than the one below. Every floor will be.

"That doesn't sound right though," said Shirou, "the pictures of Aincrad castle in the game's promo stuff showed it was widest around the middle."

"The bottom floor isn't at the bottom of the castle," said Chigusa. "It's around where the huge rings are. Everything below THAT is the stuff that keeps the castle afloat. The engines must be huge."

"That aside," Seriyuha said firmly, "we're cutting through this grassland?"

"Yeah, Dragon Valley is straight ahead from here," said Chigusa. She peered ahead, shading her eyes with her hand. "I think we can make it by tomorrow if we hurry. The only people heading that way right now should be other beta testers."

Shirou tried to look as well, though he saw nothing that would seem to help him gauge distance. "What's out there?" he asked.

"There's some interesting ruins I wanna check out. During the beta I didn't make it in time to get any decent loot. I was focused on reaching those plateaus but there's nothing good out there that I saw. Oh and there's a pretty nasty wasteland-"

"How difficult a walk will it be?" Seriyuha asked, her eyes shut and her arms crossed.

"Pretty easy. Just watch for the oxen."

"Watch for giant bulls, no sweat," Shirou muttered as the trio began to move.

"By the way," Seriyuha said sharply as she turned on Chigusa, "mind where you mention the beta from here on. That 'Beater' that got Kibaou worked up will only make it worse for you if people like him overhear you," she said, gesturing to the other players scattered across the field. "If you need to tell us anything, say you read it out of that guidebook Keh-keh mentioned."

"Yeah, you're right," Chigusa said, her face falling.

"Seriyuha just wants to make sure nothing happens to you," Shirou said, a forced smile on his face. Chigusa returned it - just as forced by Shirou's guess - and began leading the way through the grasslands.

There were no murderous bulls in the immediate vicinity so their initial trekk was easy for the most part, save for the fact that the long grass was tough in some places to walk through. The weather on the second floor was mild and pleasant despite the fact that the real world was starting to enter the winter, and Shirou eventually found himself enjoying his walk through the savanna. The warm breeze was nice, as was the time spent with his two companions as they made light chatter.

Then they caught sight of the first red color cursor on the horizon.

"And it was all going so well," Chigusa said as she readied her spear. "Watch yourselves, these things'll aggro if we get too close."

In the distance was an ox, his face down in the grass, apparently minding its own business. They approached slowly until it looked up, though not at them. Its skin looked rough and pitted with small scars and battle-wounds, and its powerful muscles were visible beneath it. And, of course, it had vicious-looking tusks, ready for a good goring. "Mad Ox" was its name.

"Don't worry, they're not as tough as they look, though," she added. "All they've really got in them is a pretty dangerous charge attack. They're pretty slow up close."

"Well, let's not run from a challenge," said Seriyuha. She walked forward - though slowly and with her shield up. "The only way to get stronger in this world is to face challenges head-on, right?"

"She has a point," Shirou said, though he privately didn't want to risk catching a tusk or two to the gut.

At least Seriyuha was the one up front.

Once Seiyuha was within a couple of yards of the bull it looked up at her and gave a great snort, vapor billowing out from its nostrils. It bowed its head, dashed the ground with its hind legs, and lunged forward. It charged more quickly than Shirou expected, clearing the distance between itself and Seriyuha in only a second or more, but Seriyuha still reacted in time, side stepping the charge. She caught the Ox by the head with her shield as it passed and pushed, sending it tumbling into the ground and toward Chigusa. The beta tester darted forward in a spear skill, jamming her spear into the beast's side. It gave a squeal and righted itself, its attention back on Seriyuha. It rumbled forward to give her a slower charge, but Shirou leaped in with an axe skill of his own, cutting the monster's health to zero.

The beast turned to data shards, the trio took a moment to congratulate each other on their first victory on the plains.

"Not bad, it's a lot easier when we're fighting just one enemy," said Seriyuha.

"Don't expect it to always be so simple, though," said Chigusa, "these things _usually_ move in herds. And anyways, it's the bipedal ones you gotta watch out for, they lead packs. I've heard stories of a mini-boss type that'll chase you relentlessly."

"Hmm," Seriyuha said, frowning at her feet. "I say we avoid _that_ sort of challenge, what do you two think?"

Shirou and his sister simply nodded.

They continued as they were, stopping only to break a time or two along the way. They cleared the Max Ox they came across, but didn't go out of their way to hunt the beasts down. If Chigusa was right about their destination they would be more rewarded there, and they didn't want to risk delaying for too long - or getting lost. The crowds of other players began to peter out as they went, though they still came across a group or two that Chigusa guessed were headed roughly the same way as them. Even so, with so many players still stuck on the first two floors, it stood to reason that some would be more concerned with getting away from the crowds than getting anywhere in particular. There was a good chance they wouldn't find Dragon Valley very crowded then they arrived

The mountains loomed closer as the sunset began to paint the sky red, but as night approached, Seriyuha vetoed the notion of going any further.

"Probably a good idea, I hear the bipedal oxen start roaming further at night," Chigusa said matter-of-factly as Seriyuha announced the end of their march.

"Why didn't you mention that sooner? Or not at all!?" Shirou moaned. His imagination was already cooking up images of giant death oxen roaming in the increasing shadows of the night.

The team quickly made for the cover of a grass and tree-sheltered outcropping of green on the fields, and Chigusa perused her inventory as she searched for her camping gear. After a moment or two she gave a victorious cry and used one of her items. A small tent and an adjoining campfire sprang into existence in the middle of the clearing.

"Okay, that'll take about five minutes to prep before it becomes usable," said Chigusa.

"Beats pitching a tent," Shirou said approvingly.

"And once we're within the boundary of the camping area we're as protected as if we were in town," said Chigusa.

Shirou looked at the camping set as its progress bar slowly inched closer to full. "So it's a campout tonight," he said, smiling. "We haven't been on one since we were kids."

"Yeah!" Hinoka said, beaming at him, "remember that time we went to the beach for the weekend back in the summer and then I scared you out of the water for the rest of the trip when I you you I thought I saw a shark?"

Shirou glared at her, his face turning red. "Yeah, you were evil back then. What about that time I told you there was a ghost-"

"You agreed not to speak of that ever again!"

"Wait, you're afraid of ghosts?" said Seriyuha. She was smiling at Chigusa, her eyes alight.

"No," Shirou said loudly over Chigusa's protests, "she tried to catch it! She was in this occult phase back then!"

Seriyuha covered her face with her hands, but her eyes told the siblings everything they needed to know.

"I hate you sometimes, Shirou," Chigusa muttered as she turned to face the prepping campset.

Seriyuha laughed quietly as she sat down in the grass. Her face propped up on her arms, she smiled at the pair. "You two really are adorable together," she said. "I'm glad to have met the two of you."

"Thanks, I guess," said Shirou. He wasn't sure whether he _should_ take what Seriyuha said as a compliment, but he at least knew that she'd meant it as one.

Shirou opened his mouth to speak when he heard something to the south - back in the direction of town. People talking loudly. A _lot_ of people. His heart beating fast suddenly, he crouched low and craned to look southward. Seriyuha, low to the ground, inched up to his side and peered with him into the fading light, Chigusa behind the pair.

"Keep quiet, everyone," whispered Seriyuha. "It's probably just some ordinary players but let's not take risks..."

"Agreed," Shirou said quietly.

After only a few momenets they came close enough so that he could see them in the distance; a group of players coming in their direction. They were too numerous and moving too loudly for it to be likely that they were Player Killers looking for an easy mark, but the prospect of running into unknown players in the dark didn't sit well with Shirou either way. Then he caught one voice out from among the crowd, and groaned, as did Chigusa.

"It's that dumbass Kibaou," she muttered.

Sighing, Seriyuha stood up and strode back to her spot in the grass, hands on her hips. "Back to what you were doing, everyone. I doubt he'll do worse than keep us up all night with his talking whether he sees us or not."

"Luckily the insides of tents are sound-proofed," Chigusa said as she turned back to the campset.

The sound of Kibaou's voice came no closer. Off in the distance Shirou thought he could see a camping set appear. "That's good, 'cause we've got neighbors," he muttered.

"What's he doing out here anyways?" Shirou demanded as he sat closer to the two women. "Did he follow us or something?"

"Doubt it, he's not exactly being subtle," said Chigusa.

"Is he headed the same way as us?" asked Seriyuha.

"Oh, _that_ I don't doubt," said Chigusa, her arms crossed. "There's nothing out this way that I know of aside from Dragon Valley. He's probably either got another beta on his team he doesn't know about that's slipping him ideas. Or he's using that guidebook Keh-keh mentioned. Ironic either way."

"He'd probably justify it as fighting fire with fire," said Shirou. Seriyuha and Chigusa nodded.

"We should start early tomorrow and get a lead on him," said Seriyuha. Neither sibling disagreed with the suggestion.

The camping set finished preparing itself a few minutes later, causing the tent and campfire to fully pop into reality. A five-meter circular field appeared around the campsite as well. According to Chigusa, only people in the same party as the individual to whom the camp site belonged could see into or interact with it or the people inside it in any way, and it would remain active until vacated for ten minutes.

"- so the only thing we have to worry about is Razler's snoring," Chigusa concluded.

"That or you sleeping in until Kibaou beats us to Dragon Valley," said Shirou.

"Razler's sleeping outside anyways," said Seriyuha. Bewildered, Shirou rounded on her and found her smiling at him. "What? You can't share a tent with a MILF like me, who knows what would happen during the night?"

"I prefer girls my own age," Shirou said quietly.

"Since it's _my_ tent," said Chigusa, " _you_ can sleep outsi-"

"Hey wait, you're a mom?"

Chigusa rounded on Shirou for a moment, eyes wide, and then she looked back to Seriyuha, gaping. "Seriously?"

Seriyuha sat up, her eyes darted this way and that for a moment. "I meant metaphorically, of course. I have a - uhh - motherly air, right?"

Both siblings stared blankly at her. She gave a growl of defeat and laid back in the grass.

"My oldest turned six three weeks ago. Her little brother is three and a half. I'd show you pictures but I can't seem to find them in my inventory right now," she said quietly. Sitting up, she smiled softly at the pair. "I only hope they turn out as nicely as you two."

"Well!" she added loudly as she opened her inventory. "Unless Hinoka also thought to bring marshmallows, I'm going to have my dinner now."

Shirou and Chigusa did the same, and their chatter after that turned to their plans for the next day. Shirou had difficulty paying attention; questions for Seriyuha were buzzing through his mind, but he kept them there. They'd already gone too far into her personal life as it was. But still, he couldn't help but feel like he was seeing the older woman in a new light. Seriyuha suggested that the trio should turn in for the night after only a little over an hour of killing time around the campfire, so into the tent they went (Chigusa's playful threat to keep Seriyuha out forgotten). The tent wasn't what one could call spacious, but it was large enough for the three to lay comfortably. The two girls went to sleep after only a few minutes, but Shirou remained awake and staring at the canvas roof for some time to come.

Chigusa was right: he couldn't hear anything outside. Not the wind, nor the sounds of the night. Far apart from feeling comforted by the silence, it made him feel like something was trying to sneak up on him. He looked over at Seriyuha to distract himself, and saw her chest was rising and falling in rhythm. _She_ was lucky enough to already be asleep.

So, she was a parent. He was curious what that was like, to have kids -

His gut tightened at the thought of her children on the outside, having to watch their mother waste away in a hospital bed. He turned over toward Chigusa, his hands tightened into fists. Their father, and Seriyuha's children.

There were a lot of different types inside SAO... and a lot of sufferers outside...

It was a little past six when Seriyuha shook the pair awake, and the sky was only starting to light up. Chigusa complained - loudly - but Seriyuha insisted they should get a lead on Kibaou's group.

"I doubt he'd _attack_ us or anything," said Seriyuha, "but the less time we spend around him, the better."

"Not to mention we need to beat him to the loot," Shirou said as he re-equipped his gear.

"That too," Seriyuha said, nodding to him.

"Fine," muttered Chigusa. She glared southward. "They're still definitely asleep, at least."

After a quick breakfast they set out once more, their campsite fading into non-existence behind them. Shirou turned and regarded its passing with a strange weight in his gut.

The grasslands turned sparse, rocky, and dry the further south they went, and the valley ahead was soon clearly visible to the naked eye. The oxen also became more numerous in number and density, and the trio started having to lure out single specimens from within herds as larger groups began to appear in their way. Then, finally, yet another herd of oxen came into view ahead of them, but this was different. For among their numbers was one that stood on its hind legs, and was nearly three meters in height.

Shirou had thought the ordinary Oxen looked powerful? This monster was a wall of muscle, its bulging eyes were blood-shot, it seemed on the verge of madness, and its tusks were bloodied.

"Eesh, that's a big one," muttered Shirou.

"Eeeyup, say 'hello' to Mr. 'Trembling Ox'," said Chigusa. "Might be hard to believe, but their female counterparts are _twice as big_."

"The females usually are the more dangerous ones," said Shirou.

"Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or insult," Seriyuha said, her arms crossed and her eyes on the Trembling Ox, "but more importantly, what do we do about this guy?"

"Going around is incredibly risky," Chigusa said instantly. "They have a wide detection radius and are _extremely_ persistent."

"We can use that against it, though," said Seriyuha. "Do you know if they share aggression with their herds?"

Chigusa frowned at it uncertainly. "I don't really know," she said slowly. "They're all oxen, but they're not the same monster specifically."

"Then we try something else," Seriyuha said as she stooped down and picked up a rock from the ground.

Winding up hard, she threw it straight at the herd, and an alarmed cry rang out from within. One ox came charging out from the horde, and the trio dispatched it with relative ease. Again and again they did this, killing the lesser members of the herd and circling around for newer vantage points, until finally the Trembling Ox stood alone, apparently unbothered by the disappearance of his fellows. Seriyuha approached it slowly, shield raised, and the siblings followed behind. The Trembling Ox stomped around where it was, as if looking for something, when it suddenly rounded on them and gave a roar that shook the rocks underfoot.

And then it charged.

It only took what felt like a moment before its huge fist crashed into Seriyuha's shield, sending her flying. The siblings turned, screaming, as the Trembling Ox ran past them. Before Seriyuha was even on her feet it brought one of its hooves down on her. Then it reared back, gave a roar, and it bent low, horns pointed toward her. Shirou and Chigusa struck it as one, hacking at its legs with one of their skills. The beast stumbled back, roaring in pain and anger, and it turned on Chigusa. It drove its hooved leg forward, pushing her defensive hold on her spear away with ease and sending her off her feet. Shirou ran forward and jabbed at its back - with his axe. The Ox kicked him back with contemptuous indifference without even taking its eyes off of Chigusa. It raised its fist to dash Chigusa into the dirt as she tried to scramble away, but stopped short when a halberd found its way into its side.

"Not her, not _either_ of these two!" spat Seriyuha.

While the creature tried to right itself in its fury, Chigusa managed to grab hold of her spear once again, and Shirou got to his feet. As it rounded on Seriyuha to attack her again, it took three skill attacks at once. With a pained look on its face, it froze for only a moment before it shatters to polygon fragments.

Shirou fell off his feet, utterly winded, while Seriyuha walked over to Chigusa and pulled her up.

"Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly.

"Y-yes, I'll be okay," said Chigusa. "But you need a health potion!"

"Yeah," Seriyuha said quietly as she pulled one from her inventory.

Chigusa was at a little over half health, while Seriyuha was barely at one fourth. With a tinge of guilt, Shirou realized he was still nearly full. He'd gotten off easy.

"Let's try harder to avoid those things in the future," Seriyuha muttered as she began walking again.

"What's wrong?" Shirou asked as he hurried along to her side.

Seriyuha shook her head slowly and just walked faster. Shirou hurried alongside her, trying to speak to her, but finally Chigusa caught her by the shoulder. Seriyuha slowed down, head bowed. "That monster caught me off guard and forced you to protect me... I'm sorry for that screw-up."

"What, that's all?" asked Chigusa. "My brother and I aren't helpless, you know. You can lean on us every now and again."

"That's not how it's supposed to be," Seriyuha said quietly as she began moving onward.

The siblings fell back a ways behind her and leaned in close to one another. "She must think of us as her kids," whispered Chigusa.

Shirou looked at Seriyuha and agreed privately. Several times she'd given off the feeling of being something akin to a surrogate mother to him. It only made sense that the same would be true for her in reverse. He wasn't sure what to make of this relationship but...

He had to admit it felt at least a little nice.

"We'll just have to prove we can take care of ourselves," he whispered back. Chigusa nodded once and hurried ahead.

Luckily they only once saw another Trembling Ox, and it was far enough out of their way that they were able to (with a very wide berth) skirt around its aggression range. The rest of their time spent walking through the southern plains was peaceful yet still somewhat tense; the prospect of running into another Trembling Ox that they would have to fight wasn't a pleasant one. The mountains that framed Dragon Valley came fully view shortly into the day, and they started ascending the foothills in the later half of the afternoon. The shadows of the mountain were the driest-looking places they'd yet seen on the second floor, but stripes of green framed the occasional river that flowed down the edge of the mountains.

Chigusa paused several times to observe the environment at that stage of their journey, and at one point kept the party stalled for nearly ten minutes as she looked this way and that. She muttered quietly to herself as she gazed in the distance while Shirou and Seriyuha waited in the grass, their own eyes turned back north.

"I can see Kibaou's group in the distance," Seriyuha suddenly muttered at one point.

"Aww great," said Shirou. He turned toward his sister and asked, "What're you looking for, anyways?"

"Blue Serpent River flows out from Dragon Valley, and following it is the easiest in there by far," said Chigusa. "I should've thought ahead, I didn't have any trouble spotting back it back in - aha!"

Excitedly, she pointed off in the distance, to what appeared to be a small band of trees around a mile away. "That's it. There's a lot more green around the river and in the valley. Let's move it!"

The group moved faster than ever for a short while, eager to put some distance between them and Kibaou. They were soon slowed back down by the Oxen herds, however, then even more than before because they had less room to maneuver or avoid getting into unnecessary fights. Fortunately there were no Trembling Ox standing in their way. After a little over another hour they crested a small hill to find a brisk northward-flowing river before them. The trio rushed to its edge with unspoken consent, the sight of water and lush grass up close a welcome sight to their dirt-weary eyes.

"Yup, this is definitely it," Chigusa said as she checked her minimap. "We just need to follow this south."

"What's it like in the valley?" asked Shirou.

"Lots more plantlife and rivers, but there's also a few dangerous cliffs. It might actually be snowing this time of year. Most of the enemies there are mountain goats and wild dogs." And with a rueful smile, she added, "I don't think there are anything as dangerous as those stupid Trembling Ox up there. There's also a village we can use as our home base."

"Well let's not waste time," Shirou said with a northward jerk of his head - back in Kibaou's direction.

Although Chigusa described it as the easiest way into the valley, Shirou quickly learned how the "serpent" river got its name; it wound this way and that through the mountains like a snake, causing the team to double-back on their southward progress several times as they followed it. Still, the passage was relatively easy, as the river path through the mountain simply rose upward at a steady incline, rather than over vertical edges and towering rocks. It wasn't long before they began to encounter Chigusa's promised goats and dogs, but they behaved little different from enemies the trio had encountered and defeated before. Recent snowfall began to powder their way as they continued on, and the team was forced to use their cold-weather gear once again.

About an hour into their journey upriver they came upon a rock "ramp" that led sharply upward into the cliffs before rounding a bend and going out of sight. The river path itself led on in a different direction.

Chigusa first faced the direction of the river and said, "Feorholt village is about an hour off this way. We can stay there while we explore Dragon Valley."

Next she turned to the cliff ramp and looked up it, her hands planted on her hips. "But this leads further up into the cliffs, to Dragon Ruins. That's where I wanted to explore."

"Will we make it back to Feorholt before nightfall?" asked Seriyuha.

"No, but monsters don't spawn in the ruins plaza, just in the catacombs," said Chigusa. "Besides, other beta testers who know about the ruins will be heading this way - if they're not already there."

"Then we don't have time to worry," Seriyuha concluded as she led the way up the ramp.

Seriyuha marched on without the siblings, leaving them to bring up the rear as they so often did. The path leading up was rockier and harder to traverse, and their passage was slowed. The sun was beginning to set behind the cliffs, and it wasn't until they reached the highest point in the ramp's climb that they stepped out into the sunlight once again.

Shirou paused a moment and faced west, shading his eyes from the harsh light of the sun. He could see the river below, churning white and blue and enclosed by bands of green (and some white). He could see the village nestled on a ledge the river ran around. Looking out further he could see the whole of the plains they'd just crossed, spreading as far as he could see.

"Who'd put so much work into this world, and then ruin it this way," he wondered quietly.

Seriyuha and Chigusa's footsteps approached slowly from behind, and he soon felt his sister's hand on his shoulder.

"It was beautiful during the beta," she whispered. "I guess it still is, but..."

"It's a beautiful trap," Seriyuha said quietly. Her footsteps moved away, further along the road they were taking. "The only thing that really matters in this world is us players," she said loudly but not unkindly.

"She's not wrong," Shirou said as he turned to follow her. Chigusa's footsteps, heavier and slower than his and Seriyuha's, followed behind.

They once again found themselves deep in the shadows of the evening, but the road became greener as they continued on, the path sloping downward at a gentle incline. They rounded a long bend that looped around a sheer cliff face and suddenly found themselves staring at a stone ruin, covered by the last light of the sun and overgrown with shrubs, trees, and creeping vines. The ruin was built into the southern side of the cliff face, the western side being open to the air and allowing the last of the fading sunlight through.

A man-made stone bridge linked the ruins to the cliffside road that the team had been using, for the ruins were built over a vast lake and suspended by stone pillars. A rapid river running down the cliffs fed the lake before continuing on to the plains, and an ancient aqueduct collected some of the excess to feed into the ruins.

Shirou couldn't help but let out a long whistle at the sight. "They put a lot of work into designing this place," he said quietly.

"Yeah," said Chigusa. She was staring hard at the ruins, her arms crossed. "Back during the beta I was sure this had something to do with the floor labyrinth, but it doesn't. I don't understand it."

"What's bothering you?" asked Seriyuha.

"You don't design something you don't need," said Chigusa. "Putting this level of care into an out of the way dungeon is absurd from a design point of view. Remember the spider cave? It was an entirely generic ice cavern."

Even though he lacked Chigusa's background in programming, he knew enough from simply _playing_ video games that the level of design focus an area received usually indicated its importance to the game. Then again, for all any of them knew the ruins just re-used assets from another floor. It might even have been one of several structures with the same copy-pasted layouts. Anything was possible with dozens of floors still above them.

"Well we won't find out by just staring at it," said Seriyuha.

Nodding, Chigusa led the way, pausing only to light a torch to ward off the rapidly-encroaching night. The stone bridge was without side guards and was cracked in many places, but it was still several yards across at its narrowest, and the party had no difficult crossing into the ruins proper. They first came upon what must have been a courtyard, but the plants had long since grown beyond the bounds of their proper areas, and the huge stone fountain was cracked and dried. Shirou examined the stone architecture where he could, but Chigusa wasn't willing to slow down for long. Much like the ruins itself, the textures for the stone within it was crafted with care; he could see the minute cracks in the stone and the ancient letterings carved into them.

But a sight that actually caused Chigusa to stop in her tracks was that of another player. Two, specifically: a man and a woman. The man was the shorter of the pair, with dark black hair and a thinner physique. The woman had a more powerful build, especially in her toned arms and legs, and her red hair flew long down her back. She was leaning over a sheathed nodachi and watching the man intently, but as they approached she glance their way out of the corner of her eye. Hoisting her sword up over her shoulder, she turned and regarded the siblings and Seriyuha.

"Hey, we've got company," she said to the man, who had had his head bowed.

"Come to explore the ruins like us?" he said, straightening up. "Though I bet you're here for ancient treasure, rather than ancient secrets."

"I wouldn't wholly disagree to a little of both," said Seriyuha, "but our first priority was whatever treasure we can find here."

The man gave a humorless laugh and pointed into the ruins. "You'll find plenty of treasure and 'Cave Dragons' both further inside. Best of luck to you."

Guessing that the subject would change to these "cave dragons," Shirou spoke up loudly, "What did you mean by 'ancient secrets'? Do you think there's actual meaning in these ruins?"

Chigusa and Seriyuha gave him puzzled looks, but the man immediately smiled at him. "Oh absolutely. You haven't noticed how much attention was paid to making this place?"

Shirou glanced Chigusa's way, and she nodded. "I did," she said. "The ruins are so well-designed, like they were trying to match an actual lost city. They wouldn't have done that for no reason."

The man laughed and turned back to what he'd been looking at. "Not just that, come closer," he said, beckoning toward him.

The woman looked at them closer for a moment before she stepped aside and jerked her head toward the man.

Shirou stooped low and stepped beside him. The man was examining ancient writings on the ruined stone. "What're we looking at? It's just ancient writing, right?"

"Yes, now where do you think the designers got them from?"

"Well usually you just make up illegible gibberish shapes and repeat them," said Chigusa, "That's a basic rule of texture design unless it's something important."

"But that's not the case here," said the man. "I recognize this style of glyphs, it's cuneiform."

"You're joking," Seriyuha said flatly. "Somebody actually inscribed real messages in ancient writings on ruins in a video game?"

"Now that, I'm not sure," the man said, some regret evident in his tone. "Unfortunately, the stone's worn away pretty realistically, and cuneiform is hard to decipher if even smaller pieces are lost. There might have been actual meaning written here, or just random gibberish letters somebody stole from a picture somewhere. I doubt it's the latter though."

"Did you really come all this way out to read ancient writings?" asked Seriyuha.

The woman laughed. "Yes, and he drags me along for the ride."

The man smiled up at her and asked, "And what would you do if something awful happened to me?"

"Beat the hell out of whoever did you in," the woman said instantly, though she smiled at him. "I think introductions are a little overdue," she said, turning back to the trio, "I'm Ashii, and this hopeless anthropologist is Lloyd."

"I'm Seriyuha," said the older woman, "and this is Razler and Hinoka, my party mem-"

"And I'm Keh-keh, but I'm not in any parties!"

Shirou growned, as did Chigusa. Lloyd and Ashii stared confusedly at them.

The annoying little girl was seated there high atop an ancient archway, her black clothes and hair blending in well with the darkening sky. Shirou wouldn't have even seen her there if she hadn't revealed herself. She was staring down at them, grinning wide.

"Get lost you damn brat!" Chigusa screamed up at Keh-keh.

"Hinoka, don't alert _everyone_ nearby that we're here," Seriyuha said patiently and quietly.

Ashii lowered her nodachi, though she kept her eyes firmly on Keh-keh. Lloyd just grinned at her, arms crossed.

"I assume she's no friend of yours?" he asked, his tone amused.

"Of course I am!" Keh-keh cried as she leaped off of the pillar, landing quietly among them. "In fact I came to offer two helpful hints."

Chigusa leaned in close to the young girl and said, "you can start by offering us our loot-"

"Name them," said Seriyuha.

"Well," Keh-keh said slowly, "That annoying loud guy from back in town is heading this way. He's been laughing the whole way about how he read about these ruins from the beta tester book."

"We already had a pretty good idea of that one," said Chigusa.

"I don't like the idea of more loud players showing up," muttered Lloyd. He was already back to examining the glyphs, apparently not interested in the proceedings any longer.

"If they want a fight, I wouldn't mind beating a few of them around," said Ashii.

Keh-keh nodded to her. "I think I like you already, lady."

Ashii stared down at her, nodachi over her shoulder and one hand on her hip. "We'll see whether the feeling's mutual."

"What else were you going to tell us?" asked Shirou.

Keh-keh's face fell. "There's a bunch of blind killer lizards in there, according to the guidebook. Considering I just gave you guys some pretty decent advice, I wanted to ask if I could help you-"

"No way!" cried Chigusa.

"-I'll give you a fair share this time, promise! Pinky swear!"

"Deal," Seriyuha said quietly, arms crossed.

Chigusa did a double take as she rounded on Seriyuha, her mouth agape. "You're joking, right!? What's stopping her from screwing us over again!?"

Even Shirou couldn't help but stare are Seriyuha.

"I'm going to make her friend request me and join our party before we agree to take her," Seriyuha said calmly as she opened her menus. "If she's going to be nearby anyways, I'd rather be able to keep an eye on her."

Keh-keh smiled brightly as a window popped up before her, which she eagerly accepted. "Yeah, exactly! If we're on the same party loot gets distributed anyway!"

"Well if I were to make a suggestion," Lloyd suddenly said as he nearly leaped to his feet, "Ashii mentioned earlier that the inner sanctum of these ruins is guarded by a large dragonspawn field boss. If you take us with you, she can show you the way there!"

Ashii gave a long sigh and practically moaned, "We don't even know these people, Lloyd!"

"They were willing to put their trust in the little ninja girl, why don't we do the same?" he asked, smiling at her.

Seriyuha rolled her eyes at Lloyd and turned her gaze to Ashii, who was staring back. "You can actually show us the way?" she asked.

"Yes," she said, "my party and I reached these ruins first during the beta test and we spent a few hours exploring. It shouldn't be a challenge for me."

Shirou grinned at his sister and said, "Hey, cool, looks like you're replaced, sis."

"Like hell I am," muttered Chigusa.

With Lloyd and Ashii added to the ever-growing party, they continued on into the ruins. They moved more quickly than before - much to Lloyd's disappointment - until they passed under an arch that had grown a screen of danging brush over the years and found themselves in the midst of a central plaza. They stepped first into the center of a large dip that in the middle of the entire plaze and surrounded by arches and pillars on all sides. From there they could see the entire rest of the plaza with relative ease. Ashii stopped to look around, her hands resting on her sheathed weapon. Darkened entryways were scattered all over the area, each one leading down to the underbelly of the ruins. Shirou counted somewhere over two dozen of them, understanding instantly why Chigusa and Ashii had described them as "catacombs".

"Okay, booklet time," Keh-keh said as she searched her inventory. A smaller pop-up appeared before her, and she began searching through pages frequently. "Aha! Found it! Okay, 'The treasure chamber of the Dragon Ruins is located at the deepest and centermost chamber of the ruin catacombs, and is guarded by-'"

"It was this one," said Ashii.

She lifted her sword up, pointing it toward an entrance that was sheltered under a tree. Nothing in particular marked it as separate from what Shirou could see, so he asked, "how can you tell? They all look the same to me."

"It's the number of notches above the door," said Ashii, "the right one had thirty-one of them."

"The book doesn't mention anything about that!" cried Keh-keh.

"Yeah, that's because not many people from the beta bothered with this place," said Ashii. "It's out of the way in an out of the way part of the floor, and getting to the bottom is a pain if you don't know where to go. We didn't even get to the treasure room first in the beta either."

Keh-keh grumbled quietly as Ashii led the way to the indicated entrance. Torches were passed around between the party, and then Ashii began to slowly descend into the darkness. Lloyd was the next to follow her, Keh-keh behind him. The passage wasn't wide enough for two to go through it comfortably. As his own turn to enter came around, Shirou quickly found himself relieved that hadn't been the one to go in first. Even with allies before and behind him, the darkness waiting just on the edge of his torch's light put him on edge. Try as he might, he couldn't peer through it.

Finally it was his turn, and he slowly began to descend the steps. He walked slowly, nervous about tripping in the dark. It actually wasn't long before he came out to level ground once again, but the descent had felt longer than it really was.

The catacomb tunnels were inky dark but surprisingly dry, and the stone textures looked to be less chipped and worn than outside. Shirou was unsurprised to find Lloyd already examining the ruin walls while everyone else was waited for his sister and Seriyuha to follow from behind. The group paused at the bottom of the stairway until everyone was down and ready to move on. Before they actually got moving, Ashii stepped out before them.

"Now," she began quietly, "everyone keep your ears open down here. 'Cave Dragon Whelps' gather in the catacombs. They're small but since they're blind they're experts at finding people hiding in the dark. Also they can spit small fireballs at their prey."

"And that's why I'm glad I met you guys out here," Keh-keh said, her hands behind her head. She grinned wide at Ashii. "Don't worry, I'll hear them coming from a mile away!"

"I sure hope so, those things are _nasty_ ," said Ashii.

Shirou shuddered involuntarily. From killer oxen to killer lizards...

They started walking slowly down the passage, keeping to the same general order with which they descended the stairs. Glancing over his shoulder, Shirou realized that this was the first time he could remember Seriyuha keeping to the rear when they moved. Glancing forward, he found himself wondering why. Was she afraid of attacks from behind?

The passage they took soon sloped downward at a gentle incline for a few minutes and then leveled out, though the walls and the carvings on them didn't change noticeably to Shirou. Perhaps Lloyd would see some change, but he didn't want to have the team slowed down with an exuberant lecture on ancient forms of writing. Not while they were in the dark and surrounded by killer lizards.

Speaking of which...

"Have you heard anything recently, Keh-keh?" he asked quietly.

"No, I would have spoken up," the young girl said.

"We should have seen some mobs by now," said Chigusa. "Remember that ice spider cave? We saw the first set of eggs only a minute or two in."

"Yeah," said Ashii, "something's definitely wrong..."

Since monsters left no corpses or physical drops of any kinds when they died in SAO, it was never easy to know whether any had been present once they were already gone. That could be annoying on occasion, now more than ever.

"Maybe they just removed the dragons from some parts of this dungeon?" asked Keh-keh. "I overheard Argo talking with one of her friends that they changed the first floor labyrinth boss."

" _What_?" snapped Ashii.

"I _knew_ they'd change things from the beta," muttered Chigusa.

Ashii watched Keh-keh closely for a few seconds, as if examining her face. Keh-keh stared back, a confused look on her face. Finally Ashii resumed walking again, apparently satisfied with something only she knew.

Shirou wanted to ask what Ashii had been staring at, but eventually asked instead, "Who's Argo?"

"This _really_ smart girl I met on the first floor. She's a beta too. She knows a _lot_. Some guy in black was talking with her about how the boss' final weapon was a little different from the beta."

"I told you that might happen," Lloyd said gently to Ashii.

"I expected it from the start," said Chigusa.

Ashii said nothing. Side passages appeared occasionally here and there, and once in a while Ashii directed them down them. Shirou wondered for a time what she was basing her directions off of, until Seriyuha finally volunteered the question herself. Before Ashii could begin to answer, Keh-keh rapidly (re-)explained that the inner sanctum was the lowest point in the catacombs and Ashii was just directing them downward. Ashii ultimately said nothing.

The routes they took often sloped downward, further and further, until Shirou began to wonder if they would ever find themselves looking through the bottom of the ruins. He could only imagine they were now within the mountains. No matter how far down they went, however, they never saw any of the dragon whelps that Ashii and Keh-keh had promised, nor any monsters at all. Everywhere around him, Shirou saw his friends (other than Keh-keh) looking over their shoulders, or peering carefully down side passages. Shirou privately couldn't help but wonder if something was leading them into a trap, but he couldn't imagine what that would be. The simple AI of monsters in SAO shouldn't have been capable of something like that.

About half an hour into their downward trek, they came upon a tunnel that spiraled downward at an even slope and without any side passages. They were clearly closing in on their destination. Eventually they came before a great stone door etched in glyphs and twice as large as they were tall.. Ashii stepped before it and turned around, her hands resting on her nodachi.

"Now on the other side of this door there's supposed to be a guardian boss of this dungeon; an 'Elder Dragon Spawn'. It's not going to be an easy fight, but we can manage."

"What's it do?" asked Keh-keh.

"Can't say, another party beat us to this boss back in the beta," said Ashii.

"But you said you got here first."

"And spent hours exploring it, remember?"

"Keh-keh, you've still got your Beta guide, right?" asked Chigusa.

Keh-keh gave a short gasp and opened her inventory. "Right, good thinking," she said absentmindedly as she rifled through her items. She found the book again, more quickly than before, and hummed quietly to herself for a few minutes as she flipped through individual pages, until finally she frowned.

"All it says is that a boss is rumored to guard a treasure room at the bottom, but-"

"Well, I guess that book's not perfect, then," said Ashii.

Seriyuha stepped out from behind Shirou and his sister. "You showed us the way here, but I'd like to have Hinoka direct us in this fight."

"Can confirm, she knows her stuff." said Keh-keh.

Ashii examined Chigusa briefly, eyes narrowed. "Well, as I seem to be in the minority, I'll agree to that."

"What sort of fighter are you?" Chigusa asked Lloyd.

Smiling, Lloyd drew forth his weapon, a long combat staff. "I hit enemies with a pole. It works pretty well."

"Okay, so a monk. Your defenses should be better than the rest of us aside from Seriyuha."

"He thought he was signing up to be a _mage_ going in," said Ashii.

"Wow, you're _dumb_ ," said Keh-keh.

"She never told me SAO doesn't have a magic system!"

"Yes I did!"

"Lloyd, you're in the front with me on defense," Seriyuha said loudly, "Ashii, you'll be helping Chigusa and Shirou on the offense."

"Not a problem," said Ashii.

"Then let's go," Seriyuha said as she turned toward the double door. One hand on either door, she pushed hard, and they swung wide with only a little effort. On the other side of them was a large round room, with a wise raised platform in the center that was surrounded by pillars and a very high roof. Just like the rest of the catacombs, the walls were carved with glyphs and images, thought from a distance Shirou couldn't be certain what of. Seriyuha led the way onto the raised platform in the center, the rest of the group following behind. As Shirou and Chigusa hoisted themselves onto the platform, the stone doors slamed shut behind them with a rattle that shook dust from the ceiling. Before anybody could react, deep laughter resounded in the chamber.

"Trespassers," said a low deep voice. "There's a truth that you must learn of this world..."

A shadow began to move on the on the side of the room opposite that which they came in. Shirou tried to peer closer into the darkness, but couldn't properly discern the shape of the thing that approached them.

"It's a huge lizard," said Keh-keh.

"At least one of us can see in the dark," said Ashii, "but the lights -"

"Some secrets must remain buried! You shall learn that for yourself!"

Torches on the pillars that surrounded the platform suddenly flared to life, bathing the room in light. Shirou winced, but his eyes quickly adjusted, and he tossed aside his torch. Standing before him was a centaurian monster of a lizard that stood nine feet from boot to shoulder, with four thick and muscular legs hoisting up its upper body, complete with strong arms that gripped a crude double-sided polearm.

"Senzar, the Keeper of the Ruins," it was called.

"There's only one truth in this world," Ashii cried, her nodachi pointed straight at the guardian, "and it's that our only way out is through! So prepare to _let us through_!"

Senzar began to walk around the perimeter of the room between the platform and the torches, his eyes constantly on his foes and his weapon held ready. The party huddled together near the center, watching him closely.

"What's our plan, Hinoka?" asked Seriyuha.

"He's probably trying to disorientate us," said Chigusa.

"Keep a close eye on him," Ashii said quietly, 'that polearm of his and the layout of the room gives him a few angles to swing at us from."

"I'll take care of it!" Keh-keh cried as she deftly threw a handful of throwing knives. The weapons soared right for Senzar's eyes, but he easily deflected them with his weapon.

Senzar suddenly twirled his weapon around in hand and swung it wide at the party, sweeping the closer half of the platform with it. Seriyuha raised her shield and took a knee. The force of the blow pushed her back a foot and reduced her health moderately, but she deflected Senzar's attack upward.

"Now!" cried Ashii. Raising her nodachi she darted in, Lloyd at her side.

"Uhhh," said Keh-keh, "I'm not su-"

"Hold back," cried Seriyuha, "Hinoka didn't-"

Senzar caught Ashii mid-skill with one of his front feet, sending the swordswoman flying in a heap. Lloyd broke off his own attack to rush to his partner's side, and just in time, as Senzar had turned his deflected horizontal sweep into a vertical chop. Lloyd caught the attack on the shaft of his pole and was forced to one knee, but Seriyuha ran to his aid and rammed into the weapon with her shield, swing Senzar's polearm flying. The counterforce from Seriyuha's attack jerked the weapon around in Senzar's hands, but when Shirou caught his sister's eyes, she shook her head at him immediately.

"Didn't really see anything that looked like an opening," said Keh-keh. "What's our plan?"

As Senzar resumed pacing, Ashii and Chigusa exchanged glances. "Any ideas?" asked Ashii.

To Shirou's surprise, she grinned back, and immediately directed Seriyuha to the opposite side of the group from where she'd been standing. Senzar again swept his polearm across the platform, and Seriyuha deflected it. She turned to face Senzar only for Chigusa to suddenly and urgently direct her to change sides again, and then for the rest to, "get ready."

Seriyuha paused only long enough to shoot Chigusa a curious look before hurrying across the platform, just in time for Senzar to attempt to bisect it again with a downward slice of his weapon. Lloyd blocked it as he had before. Without waiting to be told, Seriyuha rammed the weapon off of Lloyd as she had before.

The weapon again rattled around in Senzar's grip - and the opposite end was swung toward him, ramming the flat end of it into his own gut. Ashii darted in, nodachi drawn, before Senzar even had time to start sputtering for breath. Shirou was stunned at her reflexes before he mastered himself and readied an axe skill. Chigusa plunged her spear into Senzar's chest, Keh-keh carved a deep gash into his side with her long serrated hand knife, and Shriou hacked at him with his axe. Senzar's health dropped a respectable amount as the giant guardian stumbled back, roaring angrily.

"Back up, everyone!" Chigusa cried as she leaped onto the platform.

"Something tells me we don't wanna be in the way of his walking," said Keh-keh.

"No, he's most likely programmed to just trample anybody in front of him without stopping," said Chigusa.

Shirou smiled at his sister as the team positioned themselves to attack Senzar once more. The trick she'd notice was one Ashii hadn't. There was a difference between beta testers. Senzar, having apparently not learned his lesson from his previous failed attack, once more was driven to jab himself in the stomach with his weapon after a failed attack, and again took damage for it. Then he let out a longer roar and resumed his pace, though his grip on his weapon had shifted. Before he'd held the polearm in two hands well apart and raised slightly upward, but now he held it low, his hands close together.

"Looks like he's going for even more swing," said Lloyd.

"Yeah," said Chigusa, "Lloyd and Seriyuha, stay together on the side of us I indicate, and be ready to change sides quickly."

Both gave their affirmation, and Chigusa directed the tanks to stand to one side of the party. Shirou quickly replayed the fight mentally, recalling then that Senzar always swung originating from the direction he'd been going. Shirou watched the field boss and the two tanks, his stomach writhing. Then Senzar finally stepped his march, and then turned around completely and swung - in the opposite direction than Chigusa had expected. Chigusa screamed for those on the offense and defense to switch places, and Shirou only barely managed to scramble past Lloyd and Seriyuha as they rushed forward to block the incoming attack. With Seiryuha's kite shield and Lloyd's staff they deflected the attack upward, Shirou breathed a sight of relief as Senzar's attack swung over them - but then Senzar turned the polearm around as it reached the apex of its swing.

Shirou's heart practically leaped from his chest, and he was already diving to the ground as Chigusa screamed for everyone to duck. Shirou could feel Senzar's weapon cut through the air above him, and then heard a loud sound like stone being carved as he rose to his feet. Looking up, he saw that Senzar had embedded his weapon in one of the pillars. He stared, completely dumbfounded, until Chigusa screamed for everyone to attack, bringing him back to his senses. Ashii was already chaining her first sword skill into another by the time he managed to deal some damage of his own, but everyone managed to get a few good hits in before Senzar finally managed to free his weapon.

That time, Chigusa was ready for Senzar's reverse-turn before his attack, and the tanks were equally ready for his second sweep. Senzar's second swing went too wide, driving the head of his polearm into the pillar. Shirou gasped in recognition for a moment before he went in with his companions to attack the stuck guardian. With that fourth strike, Senzar's health dropped to low levels, and he furiously pulled his weapon to free it from the stone. Shirou heard the crunch of splintering wood as Senzar angrily snapped his polearm in half. Apparently undeterred, the giant beast simply took the ruined weapon in one hand, and then yanked the other half free from the stone where it remained lodged with the other. Thus armed with now much-shorter hand-blades, Senzar stepped onto the platform and glared down at the intruders.

"Looks like it's time for phase three!" cried Keh-keh.

"Stick together, he won't have the same range anymore!" said Ashii.

"No," cried Chigusa, "spread out, break into two groups and go on opposite sides of him!"

Immediately guessing that the tanks were to be on opposite teams, Shirou rushed to Lloyd's side, him being the closer of the two, and was quickly joined by Keh-keh. Seriyuha, Ashii, and Chigusa grouped and moved a distance away. Senzar turned to face Shirou's group, his gaze blazing.

"Well he would go after us," muttered Keh-keh. "Hope you're ready for this one, Lloyd!"

"I'll help," Shirou volunteered, though he could hardly believe the words as they came out of his mouth. He _did_ have his buckler, though it felt woefully inadequate compared to Seriyuha's kite shield.

Senzar moved slower than before, as if to savor the approaching moment. Though wounded and with his weapon ruined, he still stood nearly twice as tall as Shirou and Lloyd, and he had a fury in his eyes. Raising both blades at once, he began swinging them viciously at Shirou specifically, forcing Lloyd to stand nearly in front of him to help protect him from the furious attack. There was no finesse or skill in Senzar's attacks anymore, just raw strength and speed.

But it was nearly enough.

Shirou raised his buckler to block one strike and nearly felt himself being thrown from his feet. Another came in from the side but Lloyd caught and deflected it with his pole. Shirou glared at him a moment, wishing he'd made himself a monk or knight so he could perform similar feets. He had only a moment to think before Senzar's next chop swung his way, and another following that. Keh-keh threw her throwing knives from behind the two men, but the only ones that had any effect were the knives that found their way into Senzar's eyes, and even those only barely delayed his net swing.

The furious rain of blows then ended suddenly as Senzar jerked forward with a cry of pain. The girls had obviously dealt him some damage. Shirou and Keh-keh went in on Senzar while he was reeling, dealing a couple of blows of their own before he recovered and they were forced to retreat. Roaring, Senzar turned, and Shirou watched from behind as he began his furious assault on his companions across from him.

He went to attack Senzar's back, but the lizard's huge tail swung across the air in front from him.

Gritting his teeth, Shirou ran in, only for the heavy, cold, hard tail to hit him in the side. By the time he knew where he was, he was on the ground. Growling, he forced himself on to his feet, yelling to Keh-keh and Lloyd to attack from multiple sides. Once again he charged in, but was forced to leap back to avoid Senzar's tail. Lloyd got a little closer, but the thrashing tail barely clipped his legs, throwing him to the ground as well.

Snarling, he could only wonder how Chigusa and the others had broken through before. They had to get through somehow, but how!?

"Stay right there, Razler!" cried Keh-keh. Shirou, despite her warning, whirled around just in time to see Keh-keh leaping toward him. She landed on his shoulders, paused, and launched herself toward Senzar.

The little girl gracefully flipped onto the monster's tail, paused a moment, and leaped again. In the middle of the air she prepared a knife skill and rammed her dagger into the guardian's back, halting both his assault on the other team and the thrashing of his tail. His heart racing, Shirou leaped in with an axe skill, and then another. Senzar was already starting to turn back around - it didn't matter. Shirou attacked again, his teeth gnashed. Wouldn't this bastard die!? His fourth skill struck Senzar's body, and the guardian's movements stopped. Shirou's heart missed a beat as the giant lizard's body exploded into polygon fragments, and he fell to his knees.

"He finally went down," he groaned.

"Is everyone okay?" Seriyuha called out from across the platform.

"Yeah, we're good!" Keh-keh yelled back as she ran toward them.

"Speak for yourself," Shirou muttered as he got up once again.

The torches rapidly dimmed and went out around them, casting the ruins back in the mysterious darkness that once held it. Chigusa and Ashii produced new torches for everyone, and the sound of rock sliding and groaning resounded from both ends of the room.

"Hey, sounds like the inner sanctum is ours!" cried Keh-keh.

Laughing victoriously to herself, Chigusa lit her torch quickly and practically sprinted for the opposite door. As they stepped inside, Shirou saw that the sanctum was nearly twice the size of the chamber where they battled Senzar, and was engraved with an intricate carving. Lloyd immediately tried to stop and get a closer look, only for Ashii to urge him on, reminding him they'd have time later on.

Torches flared to life in the next room as they passed took a few more steps in, revealing themselves to be in a long hall. It was nearly empty save for pillars lining the central path and shallow water channels running against the walls. But most importantly...

"Hey, I don't see any chests or anything!" Keh-keh cried indignantly.

"N-no way!" cried Chigusa.

She ran ahead, ignoring Seriyuha's calls for her to slow down. The others hastened to join her at the other end of the room, where they found her glowering at the far wall. On it was carved a detailed mural of some sort, but there was no sign of any chests or loot anywhere.

"There's nothing here! It's empty!" she cried, gesturing at the room around her. "How's that possible, did somebody else beat us-"

"Well met, young warriors!"

Shirou immediately turned, his heart racing. He was expecting to see a player standing behind them, but he was wrong. His eyes widened, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the shaft of his axe. It was that same figure in the red robe that he'd seen that night. The day they were all trapped in SAO. It was the avatar of Kayaba Akihiko that stood before him.

"BASTARD!" screamed Seriyuha.

She immediately unleashed one of her skills upon him, as did Ashii. Both women blasted through the air toward him, weapons poised - and then they passed harmlessly through. The only reaction that the robed figure gave to the attack was a slight shimmer of his form.

"Calm yourselves, I implore you!" the robed figure cried, his hands held up before him.

Several of Keh-keh's knives flew through the dark space under his hood, but again they flew through him as easily as air.

Shirou stared at him. He wasn't reacting at all. He wasn't looking at Keh-keh, nor at the two women now behind him.

"No matter what you might have seen, know that I am not your enemy," the figure said as he reached up to his hood. As he pulled it down, Shirou saw the face that lay under it. A middle-aged man wearing glasses, his messy black hair falling into the robe. He glanced at Chigusa, and she shook her head.

"That's definitely not Kayaba Akihiko," she whispered. "I have no idea who that is."

"If you're not our enemy," asked Seriyuha, "then who-"

"Hey, wizard, say 'apple'," Keh-keh suddenly demanded.

"My name is Edgar, and I welcome you to the innermost chamber of the these ruins. As you may have surmised from the," Edgar frowned, "rather fiendish guardian that was left to watch over it, certain secrets are being kept here."

He gestured toward the back wall, the one that bore the mural. "The Demon King who rules this flying prison wishes this to remain undiscovered."

"Seriously, say 'apple'," said Keh-keh.

Shirou stared at her. "He's not listening to you," he said. Why was she making such a weird demand?

"He's an npc," muttered Seriyuha. "That's why he's not reacting to anything we do," she continued over the sounds of Edgar's infodumping. "He's probably just meant to recite his script and leave."

"Shouldn't we listen to him?" asked Lloyd.

Seriyuha narrowed her eyes at him briefly. "What do we care about the lore of this world? Edgar's right that this is a prison, but it's nothing more than that."

"I care," Lloyd said girmly.

"-but to see young heroes like yourselves challenge the Demon King's servants does give me some hope," Edger continued, "further above in this castle are ruins like these."

He frowned at them, a genuine look of sorrow reaching his eyes. Shirou stared, surprised at the emotion the NPC was managing to convey.

"I implore you to seek the truth and keep fighting. This lie must end. The world outside waits for those imprisoned here."

Edgar suddenly burst into a dazzling flash of light, briefly blinding Shirou. By the time he could see again, the wizard was already gone, leaving the ruined hall empty of others once again. He turned to Seriyuha, who was staring at the place where the wizard once stood.

"What do you make of _that_ bit of lore, then? He was clearly talking about our predicament."

Seriyuha turned toward him, but Chigusa said, "Not necessarily. Kayaba might have purposefully written the game's lore to relate to the death game."

"In fact that seems very likely," she continued, her brow furrowed. "Remember how he called himself the god of this world? He's probably the 'Demon King' the wizard was talking about."

"Hey, but what about that mural he wanted to show us?" asked Keh-keh. "More ancient words?"

She turned to Lloyd, who was already examining it. "No," he said quietly. "It's a picture."

Shirou and the others joined Lloyd and Ashii. As he came up near the mural he looked up, arms folded. It was a picture of a landscape carved from the stone of the ruin wall, a picture of grasslands, trees, mountains, and small figures - people and animals, crossing from every corner of the land to a single point in the middle. As he recognized what he was looking at, his eyes narrowed. They were all congregating to Castle Aincrad. On the edges of the mural was destruction. Raging ocean waves rose to swallow abandoned towns, and fire rained down to destroy the rest. A cataclysm of some sort, but the center of the land was still calm.

Keh-keh finally broke the quiet in order to scoff at the mural. "Hinoka's right about Kayaba wanting to be God: he ripped off the Moses story!"

"Noah," said Ashii.

"She's right though," said Lloyd, "this definitely depicts a mass exodus to this very castle."

Taking a step back, he examined the mural once again. "Is that the lore of this world? The secret that Edgar wanted to share with us?"

"But why would the 'Demon King' not want anybody to know about this?" wondered Shirou.

"What are you two going to do now?" asked Seriyuha.

Shirou looked to Seriyuha, returned to reality by her loud question. She was standing several paces back from the others, her gaze now only on Lloyd and Ashii.

The pair exchanged glances for a moment. "There's a lot more I'd like to learn from these ruins," he said without hesitation. "I'll be staying here for a few more days to study them."

"Which means I'll be staying put to make sure he doesn't get himself hurt," Ashii said, though she smiled.

"Then I suppose we part ways here," said Seriyuha. She stepped forward, and shook both their hands, one after the other.

"We fought pretty well to get down here though," Lloyd said, smiling at her, "let's join forces if we happen to meet up again at another ruin!"

"That sounds good to me," Chigusa said brightly. She walked up to Ashii and smiled at her. "It was nice to meet another beta tester, wanna exchange friend information?

Ashii stared at her a moment as if taken aback, but eventually nodded and added Chigusa as a friend. The trio plus Keh-keh turned and left the hall, leaving the odd duo behind.

"But what I wanna know," Keh-keh said loudly, her hands behind her head, "is what happened to all those lizards on the way down here."

"Maybe Edgar killed them," said Shirou.

"Eh, this was a waste of time in my opinion, no treasure at all."

Keh-keh suddenly darted ahead, though she turned and flashed them a grin. "I'm gonna go find somebody else to bug! See you guys next time!"

She vanished into the darkness, leaving the trio alone once more.

"She's so annoying," muttered Chigusa.

Shirou agreed quietly.

The party made their way back up to the plaza where they camped for the night, planning to find their way into town the next day. Shirou sat at their campfire, staring into the night sky as the shadows around them danced by the light of the fire. Another strange day in castle Aincrad. From vast plains, to mountains, to ruins. This world certainly held no shortage of diverse sights.

Or - he pondered as he glared over at Kibaou's party - people. Their "rival" of sorts had arrived from town shortly after Shirou and his companions made it back up to the plaza. Fortunately, they'd camped in a shadowed corner, and their campsite was already concealing them. Kibaou's large party made no effort to do the same. As night deepened and the noise finally began to die down, Shirou began to notice an ever-deeening somberness from Seriyuha.

"Are you disappointed that Lloyd and Ashii didn't join us?" he asked quietly.

"No," Seriyuha said instantly. "Lloyd doesn't share our goals. He's not interested in escaping from this world at all."

"Don't you think that's a bit of a conclusion to jump to?" asked Chigusa.

Seriyuha grimaced and shrugged. "Well, he's not interested _enough_ in escaping, at least. He'd be hard to motivate as he is."

She was definitely right about that. Shirou hadn't entertained much of a hope of recruiting the pair even from the start. He wasn't surprised that Keh-keh didn't stick around for another offer, either.

For now, their "guild" was still only three members large.

"I suppose," Seriyuha added quietly, "the two of you are wondering why I hid what I am from you?"

"No," said Chigusa, "it was your business. If you wanted to open up, that was your decision to make."

Shirou privately agreed. Seriyuha smiled at the younger woman. "It's not that I didn't trust you, I -" she glanced away, smiling wistfully, "I didn't want you to think I was some kind of lame casual gaming mom, you know. I was worried it might change your opinion of me."

"Seriyuha," said Chigusa, "if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have known what to do back in the starting city. Knowing you're a mom on the outside won't make either of us think any less of you, I promise."

"Besides, it doesn't make you any less of a tank," Shirou said, smiling at her.

Laughing, Seriyuha rolled her eyes and shoved Shirou by the shoulder. "In that case, its bed-time for the two of you. We've gotta find out what we're gonna do for the next few days in this canyon, remember?"

His heart significantly lighter, Shirou led the way into the tent, the two women following behind. Even though the floor they rested on what made of stone, the inside of the tent was as comfortable as a bed of grass. Smiling, he stared at the canvas roof before he let sleep take him.

A brat, a mom, a would-be archeologist, and his significantly more-active watch-guard.

It was a strange world indeed.

* * *

Belated Merry Christmas, everyone, hope everyone's was pleasant!

And Happy New Year! Hope 2018 is even better for everyone than 2017 was!

This back-and-forth time jumping seems to be working for the most part, but let me know if it comes across as annoying and stalling the main plot.

Magmanta and Senzar weren't very tough bosses, but in my experience with MMO games, early bosses tend to be pretty easy. If anything, those two should have been possible to solo, but because there's a very team-oriented standard in this fanfiction that wouldn't have gelled too well.

A warning to aspiring fanfiction writers: do NOT actually save and perform your work on this site. Write it on Google docs or something and export it when it's ready for upload, the Data Vampires WILL get your work if you save it here.


	7. Pushing Forward

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

 _During the time we spent trapped in SAO, a number of guilds and groups stepped up to lead the way for the others. The first organization to really gain any traction was - surprisingly - Kibaou and his Aincrad Liberation Squad. He managed to assemble a pretty strong guild for the time and was a major player in some of the early floors. We managed to pull a respectable number of players together to form an effective guild ourselves around that time. Back then, it was us and Kibaou - an arrangement that seemed to both amuse and annoy Seriyuha at different times. We thought back then that that was how it would be for the rest of the game.  
_

 _Then we reached the twenty-fifth floor...  
_

 _Kibaou's guild fled back to the first floor to bully weaker players, and the Summer Knights were ruined. The clearers were left without a body to organize around, and things took a turn for the worst. That was when Heathcliff emerged and assembled the Knights of the Blood, ostensibly to restore morale among clearers. They were the ones who led the way for almost exactly fifty floors, carving a name for themselves as the top guild in Aincrad. Who'd have guessed that he'd turn out to be a traitor?_

 _It seemed like that prestige faded in the blink of an eye once Kayaba showed his true colors. Nobody said it, but even then I suspected that people would begin to distance themselves from the Knights of the Blood.  
_

 _But who would take their place? The DDA? Us?_

* * *

"So we're stalled then," Asuna said into her hands.

Seriyuha sat across from Asuna on the other side of her desk, watching her closely. The two women were in the guildmaster's room of the Knights of the Blood, in their steel tower in Granzam. Much like the tower (and the city itself), the chamber was cold and grey, and Asuna hadn't yet done much to personalize the room. She'd destroyed some of the non-essential furnishings that had suited Heathcliff's tastes, but she'd left the great red and bronze banner hanging behind her. It was a room that seemed to belong to no person but to an entity - that of the KoB's guildmaster.

Seriyuha faced Asuna calmly, arms crossed. "The strategist in my guild believes clearing a field quest that involves dealing with the leader of these Monstergators will clear our way. I agree with her assessment: she's rarely given me poor advice."

Asuna rubbed her eyes, saying, "Was this the same one who had my sword stolen?"

Seriyuha narrowed her eyes for a second. "I did say 'rarely'."

"Oh," Asuna gasped suddenly, "what happened with Silica and her pet dragon?"

"Apparently it went well, she's quite strong," said Seriyuha. "Well, the dragon, obviously."

Asuna rolled her eyes, then sat up straight. "Well, if you want my guild's help with the crocodile field boss, then that's fine. I'll have one of the sub-leaders bring a raid party to meet you. When are you planning to attack it?"

"Tonight, if everyone's on board for it."

"Then that's fine."

Asuna and Seriyuha stood at nearly the same time and reached across the desk to shake hands - a brief and half-heated gesture from Asuna. Then, without waiting for Seriyuha to leave, Asuna turned and strode toward the great windows that stood behind her desk. She brushed aside the great KoB banner and stared out into the city quietly, as if she'd forgotten Seriyuha was even there.

Undeterred by the sudden disregard, Seriyuha walked around the desk toward Asuna. She kept a distance of several meters between herself and the younger woman, and made certain to walk loudly enough that Asuna would hear her approach.

"You feel trapped, don't you?"

Asuna's hands clenched.

"I - I want to get out of here," she said. "I want to help fight, but I can't... Not for almost a week still. It hasn't even been a week since..."

Asuna's knees shook. Seriyuha threw a sharp glance toward the door, to make sure it was shut.

"There's nowhere here but us. It's safe to let it out," said Seriyuha. She took a few steps closer, slowly, until she was within arm's reach of Asuna. "You don't have to always be on guard. I've never gone through anything nearly as hard as what you are now, but members of my guild," her gaze fell to the ground, "people who've placed their trust in me... have died... And I've seen the survivor's grieve. The least I've ever been able to do was help them through their pain. It's all I _can_ do."

Her shoulders - her entire body shaking, Asuna fell to her knees, her hand gripped desperately on the banner as she slid down, as if to stop herself. Giving that up, she wrapped around her sides and clenched herself tight. "He," she sobbed, "he's... He's..."

Seriyuha knelt at Asuna's side, and slowly wrapped her arms around the shoulders of the young girl. Her own body was shaking, but for a very different reason. Asuna cried unrelentingly into Seriyuha's arms.

Asuna was only seventeen.

 _A widow at seventeen_.

The only reason Seriyuha could push on was the knowledge that her own family - her husband and children - were safely outside the electronic hell that she was trapped in. Asuna surely had family waiting for her, but she'd already lost the person she cared for most.

Kayaba Akihiko was truly a demon among men.

* * *

Razler yawned and stood up to stretch yet again.

Night quests were the worst. Even if his body didn't experience proper tiredness, his brain still appreciated the nightly rest. Probably this was because his brain was the only part of him in the real world still operating at full capacity.

If only he knew a doctor who could verify that theory one way or another.

Oh well.

He and his allies - the entire Summer Knights guild, a dozen members of the KoB, another dozen from the DDA, a few players from smaller guilds, and last but not least, Silica - were assembled near the head of the river to bring down the leader of the Monstergators. Hinoka had picked up a quest from the captain of the town guard back in the river village, and was very sure that it would make the river safe to ride. The bothersome part was that the Monstergators were nocturnal as a rule, so their leader would only appear at night,

Razler hoped Hinoka was right about the quest: he was missing sleep thanks to her hunch.

The river that dominated the seventy-sixth floor started from a high cliff on the far eastern edge of the map, from some unseen source hidden behind a deep fog, and then splashed and churned over a shallow rocky area before finally falling into the central parts of the floor. There it calmed down as it flowed - mostly, anyways. And one that rocky area stood Razler and the rest of his raid-members, most of them stoic and patient as the rushing waters soaked them. Elise was nearly bouncing on her heels for the fight to come, but Silica was practically clutching to Seriyuha's leg. Even Pina was cuddled tight into her chest. Seeing how terrified their newest ally was, Razler hoped beyond hope that this raid would be worth it.

At the very least, they needed to get a move on with the fight. Being kept waiting clearly wasn't doing Silica's nerves any favors.

Locating his sister from among the crowd of players, he walked over to her and got her attention. "What're we waiting for? Silica's going to have a heart attack if we drag this out much longer."

Hinoka glanced over Silica's way and frowned. "Klein's group hasn't-"

"We're here! Sorry for the hold up!"

"-And now I think we're good."

Razler turned in the direction of the disturbance, and saw Klein and the rest of Fuurinkazan approaching at a sprint. Nearly all of the assembled players turned to look their way, though only Seriyuha actually went out to greet them. She and Klein shook hands, Seriyuha composed and Klein out of breath.

"We almost didn't make it to the river before sundown!" gasped Klein. "Then we got held up fighting mobs and it was just one thing after another. Sorry we held the plan up."

"Not at all, I understand how it can be sometimes," Seriyuha said, a genuine smile on her face, "though please try to keep the sound down. We don't want to draw unnecessary trouble our way, hmm?"

"Yeah," Klein said - a little more quietly. "So what're we here for? The message you sent said this'll get us into the labyrinth."

"Right, it's time I explained that," said Seriyuha.

Stepping away from Klein and his guild, she walked to the head of the group and climbed atop a particularly high rock, so as to be seen from all around. She tapped the shaft of her halberd against the rock, and the sharp _click_ brought silence to the raid. Everyone turned to face her, and she nodded to the assembled players.

"It's time we got underway," she said. "I'll start by explaining why we're all here. I'm sure that by now most of you have heard of the tragedy of the -" she paused, grimacing "- _Batallion of Courage_ guild. For those who haven't, they took it upon themselves to swim down the river and were ravaged by Monstergators. Now, we have strong reason to believe that eliminating Kelenar the River King, the boss of this quest, will stop them from attacking us in the river. The floor labyrinth has to be _somewhere_ , and we're going to find it."

"What makes you think it's down the river?" asked one of the players.

"We've looked almost everywhere else," said Hinoka. "There's no sign of the floor pillar or the labyrinth _anywhere_ on this floor, and the river's flowing _somewhere_ ; it's not going over the edge of the floor. Those Monstergators are guarding _something_ , there's no doubt about that."

Most of the raid nodded or gave scattered comments in agreement with her. The very fact that the Courage guild had attempted to go down the river at all was proof that it was beginning to become a source of interest to the clearers.

"Question about that?" one of the KoB members spoke up. "If this guy is a labyrinth guardian, he's going to be pretty badass. How're we going to pull this off without Kirito, Heathcliff, or Asuna?"

"We have a plan to compensate for their absence," said Seriyuha.

Several eyes glanced toward Silica, who was huddling near Hinoka. Several of the players had thrown her curious glances when they arrived, and others had watched her with great interest. Those who had seen Pina's transformation were clearly eager for more.

"But more importantly," Seriyuha continued loudly, "we'll simply find a way to overcome. _Massively Multiplayer_ Online Game raids aren't decided through one or two superstars overpowering bosses by themselves: they're decided through teamwork and strategy. You've already shown your trust in coming out here, but I want to ask for just a little more from the rest of you. If you would agree to cooperate with my guild and adhere to our raid strategy, our battle should proceed more smoothly."

"What does that mean, then?" asked one of the DDA.

"I'll explain that," Hinoka said as she moved to Seriyuha's side, Silica transferring over to Razler this time. "When our guild fights together, we operate as four teams. Seriyuha leads the front line; tanks, Razler is in charge of the back line; damage per second, Lloyd leads the mid line; general assistance for the front and back line depending on who's taking more heat, and Flashy heads up the support group; which... does as its name implies. And I lead raids. We're asking that you-"

"Wait, I remember you!" cried a member of the DDA. "You're that chick that completely lost it back on the twenty-fifth floor!"

Razler glared at the man's back, his hands immediately balling into fists. He was seized by an immediate desire to punch him in the jaw.

Hinoka gasped, her eyes immediately turning downward. "Well Y-yes that's true, but-"

"That was fifty floors ago, why're we bringing that up now?" one of the squad leaders of the KoB barked. His fellows gave a general rumble of agreement.

"I'm not gonna take that from one of Kayaba's stooges-"

"Oh shut up!" cried Klein. " _That_ _idiot_ gets himself killed and this is how you take it? Throwing accusations and falling apart? To hell with that! He faced a lot worse than following another guild's strategies, so how about you man up and deal with it?"

The DDA members grumbled but stepped back amongst each other, and the KoB members quieted down. Seriyuha gave Klein an approving nod and tapped Hinoka on the shoulder.

"Yes, a-as I was saying, we're asking that you organize under the group that you think best suits your talents. It's really just a matter of how light or heavy your equipment is, should all be self explanatory-"

"Anybody who's good at throwing weapons and roguery is good for support, b-t-w," said Keh-keh, "we're not all fairy-tamers."

Razler had to stop himself from slapping himself in the forehead. Seriyuha was frowning and shutting her eyes tight. Sure enough, the other players began to give the girl curious glances.

"'Fairy Tamers'?" asked one of Klein's guild.

"Yes!" Flashy cried eagerly. "Nearly every member of my squad tamed 'Dancing Fairy' pets: they're really handy - especially in Anti-Crystal zones. They can heal and-"

"I promise, the rest of us are lot cooler," said Keh-keh.

"As Hinoka was asking," Seriyuha said slowly and thickly, "please join the group you think is most appropriate."

The individual guilds spoke amongst each other for a minute or two - doubtlessly deciding how to disperse their numbers. Razler watched on, not particularly surprised, as the DDA and KoB guilds moved almost as monolithic entities to join Seriyuha and Lloyd's squads - respectively - where they stood separate from the others, still in their general parties. Sure, a few strays broke away to join another squad, but there was no denying the raid was composed of people from different groups both in fact and in spirit, and that they intended to remain part of their groups instead of parts of the whole.

Herding the clearers was difficult without a single person or small unit that they all respected.

Razler was snapped from his thoughts when Lyle tapped him on the shoulder to tell him that the members of Fuurinkazan were approaching. At the front was Klein, his hand held up in greeting. "Yo, so I guess we're under you for this one?" he asked.

Razler smiled back, though privately he couldn't help but remember that it had been a very long time since he directly led anybody outside the guild. He also couldn't remember ever being given authority over another guildmaster before.

"Yeah, that's about right," he said. "There's nothing serious about what we do, we attack when Hinoka gives us the word and we deal with any adds that join the fight. Lloyd's team covers for our retreat once Hinoka tells us to back off." That was about right. A lot of their task involved waiting around for the right windows to attack. Otherwise people died for no good reason. "So yeah, keep things simple and there's less chance to mess up."

"Sounds right to me," Klein said, a cocky grin on his face.

Razler turned toward Seriyuha and Hinoka, which Klein seemed to take as a sign that the introduction had been completed to satisfaction. While Klein and his guild moved off to their own area at the river's head, Razler couldn't stop thinking about Klein's behavior. Klein had known Kirito nearly as well as Asuna did, if not more, and Razler remembered his anguish when Kirito went off to face death as Kayaba's hands.

He glanced at Klein, who was chatting with his guild, laughing at something one of them said. Surely he was still in pain at Kirito's death? Was he just hiding it?

Then again... it wouldn't be an alien concept to Razler. He sighed, his gaze on his feet.

"Looks like not many people are coming our way," said Lyle. The swordsman was a few paces behind Razler, his hands crossed behind his head.

"Who needs 'em, we're already the best at this," said Elise. She was standing close by, her heel-bouncing seemingly having intensified in the last few minutes.

Razler privately agreed with her opinion - too many new players added to the group only made it harder to coordinate - and with Lyle's assessment of the situation. Though a few of the other clearers did link up with Razler and the back line, most of them joined up with Seriyuha or Lloyd instead. He noticed Silica had moved to stand under Seriyuha's shadow at some point in the procedure, but wasn't surprised. Pina was obviously going to be helping the tanks. It'd probably be fine - supported as they would be - but he still had reservations in putting Silica at the forefront of such an important raid.

He frowned at the ever-growing look of fear on her face. _Hopefully_ she wouldn't panic in the heat of the moment...

Taking her out of the front line wasn't his decision to make, sadly.

The general assembling that the raid had been undergoing began to quiet down after around five minutes. Once everyone seemed settled, Hinoka called loudly for silence.

"If everyone's ready, I'll start the fight. The boss will attack us when I approach the edge of the rocks," said Hinoka.

But before any time could pass, Seriyuha suddenly called out to Hinoka, smiling. "We all know there's a very good reason that most of you agreed to this raid on such short notice, don't we?" she asked.

Most of the players looked immediately toward Silica, who shrank slightly under their scrutiny. Forcing a smile, she waved to the lot of them, Pina perched atop her head.

"Please, Silica?" said Seriyuha.

Nodding, Silica called for Pina to transform, and Razler watched Pina take on her more formidable form for a third time. Most of the players gasped in surprise or cheered in triumph - it was easy to guess who had or hadn't seen the show Silica put on back at Asuna's cabin. Having seen what Pina could do with his own eyes, Razler grinned up at her, eager for more.

"Silica has graciously agreed to lend us her and Pina's power for our fights to come. Treat her as you would any other player, we stand or fall together in this!"

As the players cried out, Seriyuha turned to Hinoka and nodded, and then moved to the center of the front line players. Hinoka, naginata in hand, took a few steps toward the edge of the rocky cliff that overlooked the rest of the river. As Hinoka took some invisible final step, the rocks under Razler's feet suddenly shook, which he immediately took as a sign to draw his sword. The ankle-deep water under him began to churn. He faced out toward the center of the seventy-sixth floor, a shiver running down his back. The worst bosses were the ones that gave no indication where they would strike from.

Something gave a deep, rumbling cry from the top of the cliffs behind the raid. Turning around, Razler looked up into the eyes of a monstrosity of a crocodile - and it stared right back at him. The monster wasn't as long from snout to tail as he would have guessed; it favored girth more than length. As large as Pina was, Razler suspected the creature was bigger still, and by a considerable amount at that. Its mouth branched into three jaws - each lined with razor-sharp teeth - and a long tentacle-like barbed tongue lashed out from it. Its claws sliced into the rock of the cliff.

"Kelenar, the River King". He certainly appeared to live up to his name.

The monster leapt off of the cliff and over the edge of the rocky area on which the raid was standing. With his great size, the monster hoisted himself up so that his entire upper body crested the edge of the dip that the water poured over, his front legs grasping the rocks and grinding divots out of them. The tanks belonging to the Summer Knights immediately formed a tight unit around Seriyuha, and the rest of her squad soon took the hint. The defenders formed a wall of shields on both of Pina's sides, and the great dragon bowed low, snarling at the monstrous crocodile before her.

"Stand together! Defend and attack as one!" cried Seriyuha. With her halberd pointed toward Kelenar, she cried out, "Our only way out is through, so push on through!"

Kelenar's first attack came swiftly: his jaws parted for only a moment, and his tongue lashed out into the mass of players. It bounced harmlessly off of the interlocked shields of Seriyuha and the others, but Kelenar struck again with a wide sweep of his claws that knocked aside some of the tanks on the far left side of the raid. Their flank broken, the rest of the front line couldn't properly block the swing with their shields, but then Pina rammed into Kelenar's claw and lashed at it with her own, forcing the monster back.

"Support, assist the front line, Silica, shore up that side until the front line is re-assembled," cried Hinoka, "Lloyd, assist Silica!"

"Defenders, watch for his attacks and react quickly, we have to work together to stop those swings!" cried Seriyuha.

"Our turn?" whispered Klein.

"Not until she says," Razler said immediately and firmly, "if we go in now we'll only get in the way."

Pina and Silica remained at the left side of the tank line as Keh-keh and the other weapon-throwers from the support team threw a volley of bladed weapons into Kelenar's face, delaying his inevitable next attack. Meanwhile, Flashy and the rest of her unit rapidly tended to the injuries of the tanks with their fairies. Kelenar's next attack was a right sweep, but this time the raid was prepared, and his attack was repulsed without incident.

Razler grasped his sword carefully, waiting for his chance to strike.

"Damn, I hate this part," grumbled Klein.

"Yeah, but we're not built to take hits," he replied.

Kelenar's next trick was a quick thrust forward, bowling straight into the defenders with his massive upper body. He forced a hole in their lines with his massive weight and opened his jaws wide-

"Mid team, fill that hole!" screamed Hinoka.

-and his tongue lashed through the gap in the tanks. Lloyd and Samson caught the barbed instrument, forcing it back-

"Silica, charge from where you're standing, Razler, attack Kelenar from our left flank now! Lloyd, go in with them! Seriyuha, get your unit up again in the center!" cried Hinoka.

"Go time, dps!" cried Razler.

Without hesitation, Razler and his guildmates rushed forth toward the left side of their defensive line. Klein and his guild were soon behind them, and the rest of those who had joined his team followed up as well.

One of the members of the KoB said, "He's going to attack from-"

"You heard what the lady said!" said Klein, "I've been itching for a chance to get in on this monster anyways!"

As the KoB member had warned, Kelenar tried once again to rake the entire raid with a wide sweep of his claws, and Pina charged straight into his attack. The dragon grappled with her much-larger foe, doing some damage but taking much more back. Kelenar's attack was forced off, and Razler and his team engaged from the side, tearing into the beast's right side. Amidst the confusion of their attack Hinoka shouted further orders and Kelenar swept at the opposite side of the raid, but Razler tuned everything else out until he'd heard Hinoka's call to retreat.

"That's it, fall back!" he yelled without delay.

He and his unit moved to rejoin the tanks while Lloyd moved past them, guarding them as Kelenar pushed forward once again. By that point Silica had moved Pina to the center of the defenders, no doubt to help force back Kelenar's extreme weight. Kelenar's forward charge was held back by the combined force of Pina and the tank-players surrounding her -

"Block its tongue for Pina!"

\- Seriyuha and a few of the tanks quickly moved in front of the dragon, shields raised, and blocked the tongue's lashing strike.

"Support unit, heal Pina quickly, Silica, prepare to cover the right flank, Lloyd, support the left flank, Razler, prepare to attack again from the left."

All did as they were told, but Kelenar didn't quite behave himself the way Hinoka had expected. Rather than perform his wide sweep again, he raised his great head and let out a long roar, and the water pouring down the edge of the floor immediately intensified.

"Razler, cancel that last and move to the back of the raid!" Hinoka cried quickly.

Razler directed his team to do as told. Expecting reinforcements to come from behind, he turned to face the cliff, leaving Kelenar and his continued attacks to the front line. Not long afterward, he could hear it from above: the deep, throaty growling of the Monstergators that he'd heard from the riverbanks at night. He hadn't yet fought the monsters; the Summer Knight made it to the raid site some time before nightfall. Elise was laughing giddily to her herself not far away, but he was simply focusing on the fact that he could definitely hear more than one of them coming.

It looked like it was time at last to meet them.

"Razler, what's coming?" Hinoka asked, her eyes still on Kelenar.

"Monstergators, several of them and all from behind," he replied instantly.

"Handle them!" she cried, "Flashy, be ready to assist Razler if he needs it!"

Razler tightened his grip on his sword. Flashy's squad was indispensable to the front line; they'd HAVE to do without.

The first of the Monstergators appeared moments later. It was a razor-fanged crocodile that Razler estimated to be fifteen feet long, and descending the cliff at a rapid pace. Its powerful clawed limbs clung effortlessly to the wet rock, and eight others soon followed at its sides or behind it.

"These are up to us, everyone, watch each other's backs!" he yelled.

Sword and shield held ready, he stood firmly and waited as the monsters barreled down the cliff.

"Don't try to block their bites, crocodiles have ridiculous biting strength!" cried Lyle.

"And it was all going so well," muttered Thunder Cavalier.

"Are you kidding? This is the best part!" Elise cried as she grinned ear to ear.

"Things are starting to heat up now!" said Klein.

Razler nodded. Maybe it was just the promise of some action that got Klein smiling again. Either way. Hinoka continued giving orders and Kelenar continued to attack from behind, but Razler and his unit focused their attention to the cliff itself. Klein rushed to meet the centermost Monstergator - the one Razler saw first. The creature focused its gaze on him and lunged, mouth wide open. The monster's attack came swift, and the vicious bite not long after, but Klein sidestepped the charge and leveled his katana horizontally along the creature's side in the same motion. The Monstergator bit down on steel, and had its jaw and side ripped open before it collapsed into polygons. Razler blinked, nearly missing the strike.

"They're only good for one charge, got it?" Klein cried to the others without looking.

Razler nodded, both impressed and grateful for Klein's demonstration, and charged in to join the swordsman. Singling out a Monstergator of his own, he moved in, catching the beast's attention. It began its attack, but Razler sliced the roof of its jaw open before it could even start to open it. Not far away, Lyle stabbed shut the mouth of another with his swordbreaker, and then pierced the its skull with his rapier. And as for Elise - she simply let swing her axe as her own mark tried to attack, sending its mouth flying through the air. Klein was already in the middle of killing a second Monstergator before Razler finished off his first.

Klein might not have been Kirito's match, but there was no denying that he was on a completely different level from Razler. The young swordsman couldn't help but grin as he watched the Klein work.

"Done, Sis!" Razler cried as the last Monstergator died.

"Razler, take your unit to follow Pina!" Hinoka cried without looking. "Silica, go in on Kelenar's right side!"

Klein muttered good-naturedly about the weary getting no rest as he heard the command.

Kelenar lunged forward as he had several times in the battle, but this time with his gaping maw open wide. He lurched his mouth down on the tanks, snapping shut viciously, but Pina slammed into the bite, forcing him back. Kelenar jerked back for only a moment before striking again with a second bite that caught Pina on the sides, bringing the dragon's health down past the half-way point. Kelenar reared back, and Razler felt his heartbeat slowing down - Pina wouldn't survive another bite!

"Pina, Bubble Breath!" cried Silica.

Pina suddenly loosed a flurry of bubbles and foam from her mouth, which surged into Kelenar's open maw. The monster jerked backward, roaring in confused anger. He then charged forward to take his third vicious chomp, but he lunged nowhere near the direction Pina was standing, and his jaws only met air. Razler loosed a sword skill into the monster's closed jaw, and Elise, Lyle, Klein, and all the others followed suit, getting in a quick but devastating volley of attacks before they were called to retreat.

"-And what was that, Silica!?" Hinoka demanded after giving a new series of orders.

"Pina can confuse enemies -"

"You need to tell me _everything_ Pina can do!"

Silica gasped. "I'm sorry! I'm not used-"

"Later!" cried Seriyuha.

After performing his rather literal tongue-lash attack once more, Kelenar suddenly reared back, roared to the skies, and began to climb onto the platform. Rocks crumbled and were thrown into the river as his huge claws dug them free from the ground, and the area shook under his weight. At first Razler feared he would move straight forward and divide the raid in half, but after his upper body was on the platform he angled northward. Hinoka re-directed the party while Kelenar was busy moving his massive bulk around, but he soon turned back toward the raid, crouched low.

"Everyone, be on guard, he might have some new tricks!" cried Hinoka "We've got a wall to our right so expect Kelenar to favor our left flank-"

Kelenar suddenly reached for the cliff with his front paw, and seized it with a grip that made the stone shriek as his claws dug into it. A roar of effort, a groan as rocks were torn apart, and watery boulders were thrown into the raid. From his vantage point near the back of the players, Razler could only see a confused frenzy of activity as several players were buried under the rocks. Some were trying to get out of the way, others were trying to help their friends out from under the stone. Hinoka was issuing a flurry of orders, but her voice remained steady. Razler and his team remained where he was; Hinoka had given them no orders.

In the midst of the confusion, Kelenar turned around swiftly, swinging his tail across the raid, but a timely charge by Pina halted the attack. Hinoka quickly ordered her back to help defend the trapped players, and then called for Lloyd to assist them in escaping out from under the rock. Meanwhile, Kelenar struck again with his charge followed by his tongue strike, and Hinoka quickly ordered an attack from the back line. This continued on for a cycle or two longer - with Kelenar mixing up his order of attacks but not using his boulder throw again - until yet more Monstergators joined the fray. Razler groaned and ordered his unit to fight them once more.

The fighting continued for around half an hour - a long slog of defending and striking at the gaps in Kelenar's defenses. Once Pina's transformation timer finally ran out, Silica was immediately press-ganged into the support unit, where she would be safest from Kelenar's attacks. The members of the raid that weren't members of the Summer Knights slowly acclimated better to Hinoka's instructions, but there was still a brief but noticeable delay between her orders being given and them being carried out, which often resulted in Kelenar dealing or avoiding damage he wouldn't have otherwise. Nobody died - or came close to death - but still nearly everyone immediately dropped from their feet when Kelenar finally burst into shards of light. As the players cheered around them, Razler and Klein smiled weakly at one another and traded fist bumps.

"You're not bad!" said Klein.

"You're pretty handy to have in a fight yourself," said Razler.

Seriyuha allowed everyone a few moments to rest, rejoice, and sort their loot from the raid, but eventually she stepped up and called for everyone's attention.

"That was very well done!" she opened to cheers from the raid. "I would especially like to thank those from outside my guild that made it out here tonight, we wouldn't have made it without you," said Seriyuha. "But don't get too excited just yet; we first have to see what effects this battle had on the floor. If Kelenar's defeat did indeed make the passage down the river safe, we're going to arrange a large-scale coordinating investigation of whatever dungeon lies under this floor. I'd like to ask for your assistance in advance."

Razler heard a general chorus of acceptance from the gathered players - including those from the DDA that had doubted Hinoka going in.

"Sounds like your guild made a good impression," said Klein.

"This time," said Razler. He didn't want to be a killjoy too openly, but it was worth remembering that Kelenar was only a field boss of a non-quarter floor. Strong as he was, he was nothing compared to the monster that the Skull Reaper had been. Even with Pina at their side, Razler wasn't sure they could have defeated a monster like that in their current shape.

Still - it was a good step forward.

With Seriyuha's post-batte speech concluded, the raid moved to put the battleground behind them. As there was no way the players knew of to cross the river back into town at night, they camped at the driest location they could find on the riverside, their general revelry carrying well through the evening. Razler sat around one of the numerous campfires they had set, beaming at the sight of everyone finally enjoying themselves for once. They'd been without real successes for too long... In the midst of it all, he found his sister and sat down next to her.

"Well done, leader!" he said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Been a while since you commanded a full raid, huh?"

"Stressful as hell," Hinoka muttered, though she smiled back. "When it's just the guild you guys are usually good enough to guess what I'll have you do. With all these other guys and" - she frowned - " _Silica,_ there's a lot more to worry about."

Razler had to stop himself from chuckling. Hinoka had taken some time to lecture Silica about withholding information from her - a telling-off that Seriyuha eventually had to rescue the young girl from.

"Good thing you're a pro at what you do."

Hinoka laughed and turned away, her face getting red.

"You should give yourself from credit," a familiar voice went from behind.

Seriyuha sat on Hinoka's other side, and grinned warmly at her. "That went as well as I'd hope. You should be proud. Too many of the other guilds in this game are used to basic switch strategies or trying to one-man-army stronger bosses."

"That won't work on anything without Kirito and Kayaba," Hinoka said instantly. "If we don't start using _actual tactics_ we're not going to make any progress. I sometimes wonder how we got this far to begin with."

"We had a couple of freaks who could solo labyrinth bosses on our side," muttered Razler. Hinoka wasn't wrong though; there was no telling what the level cap was in SAO, but Kirito would have hit it eventually. And then the mob levels on the later floors would begin to catch up with him.

"The next labyrinth will be the test," said Seriyuha.

She stood to leave, and Razler said quickly, "I had a quick question before you left."

"Sure?" she asked, looking his way.

"Is it just me or does it seem like Klein's taking everything too well?" he asked with a glance to the guildmaster in question.

Seriyuha watched Klein, eyes narrowed curiously. "I don't really know him, so maybe he's just the type to handle grief," she said after a time. "Isn't his guild made up of friends of his? That would help him cope."

"Good point," Razler said. He glanced at Hinoka without really meaning to, understanding all to well what Seriyuha meant. Close as he was to Seriyuha, or Samson - or hell, even Keh-keh - there was a very basic divide between him and them. He could open up to Hinoka in ways he couldn't to anybody else, and not _just_ because she was his big sister.

"Get some rest," Seriyuha said quietly but kindly. "Klein has people looking out for him, so I don't think he's in any danger. And I'll try to keep an eye on Asuna."

She walked off toward some of the DDA members, leaving the siblings alone in the crowd.

"If only it were that easy though," groaned Razler.

Hinoka forced a smile and squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry, once we start Splasher-busting tomorrow you won't have time to worry," she said.

Laughing, Razler lay back. "Thanks, sis."

* * *

The raid returned to town as a large body the following morning, with Elise rather disappointed that the Monstergator-hunting was nearing its end. Seriyuha quickly called for a general meeting of the entire raid at the town square, where she explained that she'd informed Asuna of the fight with Kelenar over private messaging the night before. The only step left was to check to make sure that the river really _was_ safe.

"However we end up doing this, I'd like to ask that nobody test the river before we come up with a plan," she said firmly, looking as much of the raid in the eye as she could manage. "Even if killing Kelenar neutralized the Monstergator threat, there's no telling what's at the end of the river."

"It's gotta be something important though," somebody from the KoB blurted out, "that guy wasn't a pushover."

"It could lead to an anti-crystal trap for all we know," said Hinoka.

"Or just off the floor," said Keh-keh.

 _Immediately_ , several members of the raid began talking in worried tones.

"That much we're _sure_ isn't the case," Seriyuha said, both loudly and angrily, silencing the chatter. "The river ends right before the edge of the floor, but it doesn't go _over_ the edge. The water has to go _somewhere_."

A lower murmur of discussion swept through the crowd. Everyone was agreeing with her in their own way; there'd be no reason for a few players to die to Monstergators in the river otherwise. Hinoka had explained it simply; putting a huge river in the floor just to render part of it completely unexplorable was a waste of design effort and floor-space.

"What's the plan then?" asked Klein.

"We'll jump in together and see where we end up," she said with a sideways glance to the river.

At _that_ , everyone fell silent. Even Razler felt a chill go up his spine as he looked once again at the river. It wasn't deep, but the current was treacherously fast, and he couldn't see the river's end from where he stood. In SAO, they could almost always see where they'd be when they took the next step in front of their feet, but this river was going to sweep them into the unknown. It was easy enough to _plan_ to jump in, but _going_ in...

Not all of the players were content to keep quiet, however; one of the unit leaders of the KoB stepped out in front of his guild and nearly stormed right up to Seriyuha. She stared at him with a near-expressionless look on her face as he yelled, "That's insane! You expect us to all go in on your say-so? My guild won't go without the Commander's word."

"The Flash wouldn't be so timid," Hinoka cried instantly.

"Of course _you_ agree with your guildmaster-"

"No, I actually agree that it's risky," said Hinoka, "but what other choice do we have? We've examined every part of this floor and found no sign of the Labyrinth."

"Asuna's already agreed that an exploration of the river was called for," Seriyuha said calmly. "She's decided to trust my judgement on this until she's able to help directly."

The KoB member stepped back, looking slightly taken aback, but rebounded with a demand of, "What if there is an anti-crystal trap down there?"

"That's why she wants us to go in together," said Klein. "We can't send scouts alone, they'd just get trapped!"

Klein gave Seriyuha a questioning look, and she nodded solemnly.

"I'm not asking that any of you join me if you're uncomfortable with my plan," said Seriyuha, "but-"

"You're not talking to us, are you?" asked Lyle. "Obviously we'll jump-"

"Thank you," Seriyuha said sharply, "but Klein's right. We're past the point of taking no chances at all. If the only option Kayaba's going to leave us it to take _calculated_ risks, then we have to play by his rules. We might reach a point where our crystals never work again. We need to be ready to abandon these crutches, if we have to."

The KoB leader gnashed his teeth, glanced back to his unit, and stepped back. The members of the DDA whispered to each other, but only for a little while, and the smaller guilds begin to shuffle this way and that nervously. It seemed no further objections were forthcoming.

"We do know that the river itself isn't an anti-crystal trap," said Hinoka, "the survivor of the trio who tested it is proof of that... So at least we can teleport to safely if it turns out killing Kelenar didn't eliminate the threat of the Monstergators. Everyone should have a teleport crystal ready, and we'll see where we end up."

Silence drew out, long and tense. Razler tapped his feet on the wooden plank and tried not to look at Seriyuha. Being so uncertain of taking a leap into the river when she seemed completely ready to make the first step left him feeling shameful. He'd come as far as he had by following her lead, so he should have been able to go even further...

Finally, Samson suddenly stepped forward and cleared his throat. "All of us _did_ just get back from a long and hard raid, so maybe we should spend some time restocking supplies and tending to our equipment?"

At this suggestion there was some scattered approval. Most likely nobody had even considered that necessity. It was only then that Razler himself realized he needed to replenish some of the healing potions he'd used in the fight, and that his equipment needed topping-off on its durability.

"And of course," Samson said slowly and pointedly, "if some other _errand_ turns up, then feel free to take care of it. Once those who have the time to join us in the river have gathered here, we'll move on with our next step."

Shrugging, he stepped back. "The Lord be with all of you, either way."

The crowd slowly dispersed as Razler stood there, thinking to himself why Samson would leave an out for the raid members to quietly vanish.

Klein stood next to him, arms crossed. "He just gave them an excuse not to come back, why the hell did he do that?"

"So nobody would feel pressured by having to bow out in front of everyone else," Lloyd said quietly. "And also, this gives them some time to think things over. We'll _probably_ lose some people, but just putting everyone on the spot would be worse."

"Oh," Klein gasped, a shrewd gaze on Samson. "Pretty smart then."

Razler smiled at Samson, who was then talking with Seriyuha. "He's pretty good when he's not busy roleplaying."

Most of the raid spread out into town, though the majority of its members went toward the npc shopkeepers. Only a few - and nearly all from the smaller guilds - snuck away to the teleport gate. Remembering that he needed to pick up some replacement supplies of his own, Razler made for the stores as well, but as he left he caught sight of Silica, and Seriyuha kneeling down in front of her. He did a double take; he'd almost forgotten Silica was still there.

"Does this include me?" he heard her ask.

Seriyuha smiled and shook her head. "No, not until we know more about what's down there. Taking you with us into the unknown would be-"

"But what if you run into trouble and need Pina's help?" Silica urged, brandishing Pina with both arms for emphasis.

Seriyuha laughed quietly and put one of her hands on Silica's head. "You mean _your_ help, don't you? I told you once before that you're more to us than just Pina. We'll manage, don't worry about us."

Silica's face fell. "I didn't want to get in the way... I'm sorry..."

Seriyuha took Silica by the shoulders, holding them firmly but not roughly. "You aren't in the way, dear. One of the most important things a clearer has to understand is their limitations."

Razler expected another retort or for Silica to pout, but instead she nodded, and looked up at Seriyuha with suddenly-fierce eyes.

"I understand. Let me know when I can help again, okay?"

Seriyuha smiled once again and nodded.

Silica raced past him for the teleport gate, and he continued on the way he was going, the scene he just witnessed weighing on him. Hinoka had warned Silica that there'd be limits to what she could do to help them, underleveled as she was, but Silica seemed to give in way too easily. He'd seen similar behavior from Keh-keh: she was scheming

At the very least, she teleported out of the floor. Whatever she was planning, it didn't look like it involved following them down the river.

Shaking his head, he went to go finish his business, and returned to the square quickly. To his surprise, he saw that most of the raid - well over three-fourths of its members - had returned. As he'd noticed before, it was mostly the smaller guilds that had failed to show up. He looked up at Seriyuha, wondering whether she was pleased or surprised by the turnout. Either way, she was in the middle of thanking the group for returning.

As she finished talking she stepped back, and Hinoka took her place. "There's no telling where exactly the river will take us, or whether we'll get separated downstream. Everyone will have to use their better judgement if the worst should happen. Our first priority if we _do_ end up separated will be to find everyone as best we can, but don't take too many risks. If you're uncomfortable about your situation, do not hesitate to use a teleportation crystal to get to safety." She frowned, and glanced to the side. "Assuming we _can_. We'll just have to see how this goes. I understand that we're winging it pretty badly, but we haven't got much to go on here."

She forced a smile to the crowd. "Any questions?"

Razler looked around, and found the others doing the same. Everyone was glancing nervously at the person next to him, as if to see who would crack first and ask a question.

But ultimately, nobody did.

Apparently taking the silence as a sign that it was now or never, Seriyuha began walking toward the end of the platform. "Well," she said as she stopped right before the edge. That was it; there was no guardrails separating her from the river below. "I think we've put this off for long enough," she said with a last smile to the crowd.

In she went.

Seriyuha landed in the waist-deep water and was almost immediately swept off her feet. Falling backward, she was carried southward swiftly. The Summer Knights were quick to join their leader in the river - Razler and Hinoka included. The siblings jumped together and and touched the water almost at the same time. As he'd suspected, the rocks were slimy under his feet, and he was almost immediately thrown off of them from the force of the current and his unsteady footing. He went under for a moment, panic immediately taking hold. He thrashed in the water for a while, unable to tell up from down as he was pushed along. After a moment or two his head broke the surface, and he gasped for air. Nobody was really sure whether drowning was possible in SAO, but damn did it feel good to get air in his "lungs".

As he settled down from his impromptu bath, he looked around wildly, searching for familiar faces.

Samson was treading water calmly, Keh-keh clutching tight to his back. Lloyd was staring southward with resolute concentration, while Elise cheered and whooped. Where was Hinoka? Was she still underwater? His heart pounded as he searched wildly for his sister, but finally he saw the brilliant red of her clothes, and gasped in relief. He swam to her side, fighting the current with all his might; he wasn't going to lose her in the confusion. He grabbed her by the shoulder, and she gasped and whirled around, but recognized him quickly. The two siblings took each other by the hand and pulled themselves tight together.

Now they just had to stick together and ride the river out. At least there was no sign of killer alligators following them.

Already the town was far upriver, and the river between them and it was full of the members of the raid. Most of them people Razler didn't know by name, but all of them familiar, and all in it together. Razler was a little surprised at how willing everyone had been to follow Seriyuha into the river, but, she _was_ good at things like that.

The riverbanks closed in on either side, signalling that they were rapidly approaching the end of their wild ride. Off in the distance, Razler could see rocky outcroppings beginning to form, splitting the river into multiple smaller streams. Seriyuha reached them first, and was drawn by the current off into one of the middle forks in the river. Samson and Keh-keh were drawn to a side on the far left, and Flashy somewhere between the two.

"Looks like we're getting separated!" he shouted.

"I was afraid of something like this," cried Hinoka, "hold on to me, we need to stay together!"

Razler squeezed Hinoka's shoulder all the tighter. The thought of trying to fight the current enough to follow after somebody crossed his mind for a moment, but he soon realized that might just cause him to lose Hinoka - or slam into the rocks. They were just going to have to trust in fate and luck. The current finally sent the siblings off toward the right, between two of the outcroppings. As close as he was, Razler could clearly see the jaggedness of the rocks on either side, and was grateful that they weren't thrown against them.

An opening appeared in the river ahead, one that they couldn't see into, and the river sloped down into it. Into the dark they went, screaming all the way as the passage weaved left and right like a snake. In a strange way, it reminded Razler of roller coasters from when he was a kid. They were forced against the sides of the tunnel several times, but the stone was smooth. Then, suddenly, they began falling, and landed like rocks into a pool of icy water in the inky blackness. They struggled together for the surface and paddled blindly to the water's edge, but the pool was neither very deep nor very wide, and they were soon crawling onto the wet, cold rock of a cavern floor.

"Well," Razler said as he gasped for air, "I'm not sure whether that's what Seriyuha was expecting!"

"At least we were right that there's something down here," said Hinoka.

A soft glow appeared - the light of Hinoka's menus - which soon became pure light as Razler's sister lit a torch. She handed the first one over to him, and then lit her own. They were in a simple cavern chamber: just a rough "room" of smooth and wet rock, and a passage at the other end. The tunnel they'd entered through ended in a hole up in the chamber's ceiling that spilled forth an endless stream of water that fell into the pool they'd just climbed out from. The pool seemed to neither drain nor fill. Where was the water _going_? Perhaps the game designers hadn't troubled themselves with such things.

Anyways, they had more important things to worry about.

"So, we're spelunking now?" he asked.

"Not yet," Hinoka said with a glance to the hole in the ceiling, "we should wait and see-"

The sound of screaming began to echo from above - Klein's screaming. The red swordsman quite literally dropped into view after only a moment, and the siblings helped him onto land.

He spent a moment sputtering for breath, before he looked up and recognized who he had joined. "Anybody else make it?" he asked.

"Just us so far," Hinoka said, though Klein was already answering his own question with a glance around the room.

"Well I'm glad you two are here with me. Ending up alone would be the _worst_."

He took a few steps around the cavern, before turning back to Hinoka.

"So what's the plan? We wait a bit longer and then start exploring? My guys and I jumped into the river not longer after your guild did, so the KoB and the DDA-"

Again they heard screaming from above - this time several voices. A trio - one man and two women - dropped into the cavern with them. All three wore the silver uniform of the DDA, and were prompt to introduce themselves and verify the situation once they were back on land. The now six-headed group waited for a few minutes longer, but the only noises they heard from the tunnel above were the sounds of water surging against rock. It seemed that nobody else was coming.

"So what's our status?" the guy from the DDA eventually asked.

"I already tried private messaging Seriyuha," said Hinoka, "but this place has the same restrictions on that that dungeons do. At least that explains what _this_ place is."

"H-how about our crystals?" asked one of the girls - one who looked younger than the other.

Razler's breath caught in his throat: he'd completely forgotten the risk of anti-crystal traps in the cave. How were they going to check? Trying to teleport out would just take him back to town.

"Heal," her older counterpart said as she brandished a peach-colored crystal. The crystal glowed and shattered dutifully, and everyone present breathed a sigh.

"Guess that bastard is going easy on us for a bit longer," growled Klein.

"I doubt it'll last much longer," muttered Razler.

"I don't think anyone else is going to show up, so let's get moving," said Hinoka. Torch in hand, she led the way down the tunnel at the end of the chamber. Razler and the others followed behind, torches and weapons held ready. "I'm sure everyone else made it into this cavern safely, so our first job is to find everyone-"

"Who put you in charge?" the guy from the DDA suddenly asked.

Razler turned and gave him an incredulous look, but found himself getting stared down by the trio. Was this _actually_ happening? He'd heard rumors that the DDA didn't work well with other groups in general, but this was taking it a little too far.

"What's the problem?" Hinoka asked calmly.

"I'll admit that you did pretty well with that crocodile boss," said the older DDA woman, "but we don't need you bossing us around to explore a dungeon. We're not newbs here."

"Is this _really_ what you want to have an argument about?" cried Razler. "Does it even matter who's-"

"You bet it does."

It wasn't one of the DDA who spoke; it was Klein. The older swordsman was standing behind the DDA trio, glaring forward with his arms crossed. "Right here, right now, I'm taking over this party. My guys are lost here in this cave and I'm not gonna let you five get into a fight over who's leading this show until I know they're okay. So shut up and follow me."

Klein shoved past the trio and maneuvered past the siblings, and led the way for the rest of the group by the light of his torch. Razler and Hinoka shared a confused look, but Hinoka just gestured toward Klein, and Razler nodded in agreement.

The DDA trio, however just stared motionlessly in shock.

"H-hey, who-"

"I already told you," Klein said over his shoulder, "I'm taking over. When we find your bosses you can cry to them about it, but you're coming with us." He propped his sword up against his shoulder as if for emphasis, and the DDA trio finally fell quiet and followed behind, heads low.

"Nicely done," Razler said quietly to Klein.

"Lead enough online groups and you learn how to deal with stubborn idiots," Klein replied with a cocky grin.

He'd never worked in a party directly with Klein before, but Razler was starting to understand how he'd led his guild so far without suffering a single casualty. It reminded him of Seriyuha; Klein just had a natural air for leadership.

The tunnel they were in wound this way and that - much like the one that had brought them there - but it seemed to be favoring going up and in a certain direction, though Razler couldn't tell north from south after the wild ride in the river-tunnel. For a few minutes they only heard the sound of their own footsteps and water dripping on rock, but eventually they heard wet slaps echoing from the tunnel ahead. Razler sighed and readied his sword. His allies were all doing the same.

"Gonna be _real glad_ when I don't have to see these damn Splashers anymore," he muttered.

Around another bend they saw them; five of the splashers in another chamber. Mysteriously there were two Scouts among them, even though there was no clear direction from which help would arrive.

"We should move in and take them out as quickly as possible," said Hinoka. She glanced back toward the DDA members and gestured to the younger girl - who was carrying a large shield - and said to her, "I'm gonna want you to tank for us in case-"

"I'll take care of this," said Klein.

Unleashing a sword skill, he killed one of the Scouts before it could make a sound, turned, and struck the other down in another swift strike. Razler was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly recovered and joined Klein in the fight, the older girl from the DDA coming in alongside them. By the time Hinoka and the other two managed to get into the fray, the fighting was already concluded.

"Nicely done!" the man from the DDA cried as he slapped Klein on the shoulder.

Klein simply smiled and waved at the air. "It's nothing, katanas deal critical damage just after you draw them! That's all there is to it to wiping enemies out in a single strike!"

With the excitement over, they could plan their next moves. The chamber they were in had two exits going in completely different directions. Klein stared down both in turn, arms crossed. With barely any of the map revealed and no clear idea of where they should go, getting lost in the cave was a too-real possibility. Razler was relieved that the burden of making a decision wasn't on his shoulders.

"Wanna just flip a coin on-"

Footsteps suddenly began coming their way from down one of the paths - armored ones. Razler breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed his sword; there was no way it was more Splashers. Sure enough, the party that approached was a pair from the KoB, one of Klein's guild, and Elise, who was smiling broadly.

"Yo, any problems?" Klein called out to his guildmate.

"Nope," he replied, "we ran into a group of Splashers but this crazy chick from the SK-" he gestured to Elise, who had her axe propped proudly over her shoulder "-killed them all."

Elise laughed victoriously and puffed up her chest. "This cave rocks: those stupid fishguys can't get away from me in here!"

"Did you guys see anything else down that path?" asked Hinoka.

"No, the only tunnel that wasn't a dead end came up this way," said one of the members of the KoB - a middle-aged man.

"Then we're going this way," Klein said as he began walking toward the other passage. "Everyone fall in, let's find our buds!"

The siblings followed behind him without a word, and the DDA members did likewise. Looking back over his shoulder, Razler saw the pair from the KoB exchanging confused glances before they joined in with the large group. Elise fell behind but quickly caught up with a light jog, her goofy smile still on her face.

"So, Klein replaced you, Hinoka? How'd that work out?" asked Elise.

"He's just a natural leader," Hinoka said without looking at either her or Klein.

The party continued exploring the caves. The dull monotony of their walking through the winding tunnels was broken only by the occasional Splasher ambush, and the trickle of water flowing through the tunnels ahead. Razler glared at the water a time or two as they walked, the endless, low noise increasingly bothering him. _Why_ were SAO dungeons so _boring_ anyways? It was like Kayaba's team wasted all their creativity building the prison world and failed to save any for _filling_ it...

They came upon another chamber and killed another group of splashers, when they were joined by another large group of players. Three more from Klein's guild, a pair each from the KoB and the DDA, and Keh-keh and Flashy among them as well. The two groups shared introductions, stories, and maps. Comparing the maps that both teams had managed to form of the dungeon, Razler and the others confirmed that the other party had explored every nook of the area they had landed at. But the problem remaining before them was that they had three tunnels to choose from in the room they were in, and it was becoming obvious that the underground water cave was a dungeon of long winding passages that sometimes went nowhere - their other allies could attest to that.

"This is the sort of dungeon you hope you never see in any video game," muttered Razler.

"It's always the water dungeons that suck the most," muttered a younger lady from the DDA.

"So," Klein said slowly as he looked at the passages lying before them, arms folded, "flip a coin?"

"Maybe we should try smelling it out?" asked Elise. Everyone gave her a strange look - except for one of the older men from the KoB guild. "You know, always follow your nose?"

"It _did_ work for Gandalf," the man from the KoB said with a solemn nod.

"Not sure about noses," Hinoka said. Razler's sister was kneeling before the trickling stream of water, "but this stream's been bugging me. Did any of you other guys notice it coming here?"

"Yeah, I told them to follow it but nobody listened," muttered Keh-keh. "I said it was coming from-"

"It's just following gravity, I told you," said one of the older men from the DDA. "These tunnels all slope upward."

"Better than going in circles!" cried Klein. Off he went, following the stream, and he yelled, "Okay, follow me!" back over his shoulder.

Razler no longer questioned it, and Hinoka had stopped frowning and grumbling about Klein taking over the raid. The woman from the DDA who had passed a poor assessment of water dungeons _did_ mutter something under her breath, though. Following Hinoka's hunch and Klein's lead, they party followed the course of the stream from whence it flowed, and so ran into a few other groups from among the raid - and several Splashers along the way. As the Splasher groups were becoming larger in number and more heavily equipped, Razler became increasingly confident that their path was the correct one. Then, they came upon a T-junction. Down one way they saw a chamber much larger than the others, filled with pools of water and terraces of rock formations. And down the other passage, they saw Seriyuha and the largest group of players yet seen approaching.

Seriyuha and her party noticeably hastened their pace, relief in their eyes as they saw their companions coming from across the way. She ran ahead of the others and met with Klein right at the entrance to the large chamber, where they shook hands.

"You're all okay! I was starting to get worried when we couldn't find the rest of you!"

"It was no problem, I babysat everyone," said Klein

Chuckling quietly, Seriyuha said, "Well, I'm glad somebody responsible was watching over everyone."

Razler and Hinoka exchanged blank stares, but said nothing.

The two leaders quickly did a headcount to establish who was missing from the mostly-reunited raid. In the end they were missing only half a dozen players - all from the smaller guilds or solo clearers. Razler gnashed his teeth, not surprised, but not happy either.

"We should find them before we press on" said one of the members of the KoB.

"Could be hard," Lyle said quietly, "this place is a pretty god-awful maze, even though we have an idea of how it works."

"And those Splashers too," muttered one of the members of the DDA.

"We'll just have to trust in their judgement," Seriyuha said, though her tone was heavy and her gaze low, "if they've made it this far, they'll know how to survive in this cave. And you can use crystals in here so they aren't _stuck_."

The party shifted around in silence for a moment as Seriyuha presumably waited for other opinions. Razler could only look guiltily at his feet. Seriyuha wasn't _wrong_ , but it still felt like they were simply abandoning their allies to pursue the path of least resistance...

"Well," said Klein, "Obviously this is the way we're heading." He gestured into the large cavern to the party's right, and he and Seriyuha walked in together, their respective groups following behind.

The chamber that they were walking into was the largest yet, and already lit by glowing coral formations and sunlight streaming in from cracks on the roof. Water poured in from larger holes above, and multi-floor rock formations were scattered here and there throughout the room, stone ramps winding around each. But more importantly were the Splashers. The enemies that patrolled _this_ room were no Scouts, nor where they the better-armed and armored allies the Scouts tended to call in. Wearing emblazoned metal armor, wielding coral-tipped tridents, and riding atop four-legged lizard steeds, "Splasher Royal Knights" were a very obvious cut above the rest among their kind.

"Hey guys, I _think_ we're going the right way!" cried Keh-keh.

Seriyuha groaned, but Klein burst out laughing. "So," he said with a glance toward Hinoka, "what do you think about this?"

Hinoka rolled her eyes. "I agree with Keh-keh's _apt_ assessment. And there's probably more of these things hiding in wait."

"Well how many could there possibly be? It'd take more than a few to stop us now," said one of the KoB squad leaders.

"Yeah, we've come this far!" cried one of the DDA.

"Not as if we have much choice but to fight our way through," said Hinoka. She paused a moment, looking down, then shrugged. "Basic strategies should work, these are only regular enemies. Tanks up front to hold off their defenses, dps players be ready to capitalize. Unless it turns serious just follow your better judgement. Be careful out there!"

Seriyuha and a few other shield-bearing knights from the raid - the same group that had made up the front line against Kelenar, moved to the front, the rest forming groups behind them. Again, Razler found himself close to Klein, and the two men exchanged smirks as they drew swords. The shields marched forward as a solid line of iron, their pace not necessarily identical, but near enough. The nearest of the splashers took notice of them and raised its trident with a cry, and its fellows in the chamber did likewise.

"Be ready for anything, there's no telling what these things will do," said Seriyuha.

One of the KoB leaders who stood next to her nodded and said, "We're probably facing a mini-boss here, hold together and don't take them lightly!"

The first royal guard snapped its mount's reins and approached at a relatively slow pace, two others coming up alongside him. Keh-keh and the others from the support group began throwing knives and small blades at the creature, but the trio worked together the parry them, blunting the attacks with ease, and then resumed their slow approach. Keh-keh's ranged attacks usually weren't good for much beyond harassing or annoying enemies if they weren't unaware of her, but the royal guards behaved as if nothing had happened. Razler stared at them from behind the wall of the defensive players. It didn't look like they were about to _charge_ , but what were they planning? It was always the unusual enemies in SAO that concerned him the most.

After coming within three meters of the defensive line, the royal knighs swept their tridents along the rocky floor and jerked them up quickly. Razler stared for a moment in shock, but water gushed forth from the stone, blasting into the front line with the force of a fire hose and knocking aside the tanks and their heavy shields. Razler barely had time to scramble out of the way of the water and the players it was sending flying, and found himself separated from Klein. Then he suddenly heard the sounds of players screaming and monsters hissing. Snarling a swear that went unheard in the rapidly-growing tumult, Razler turned to see that the splasher guard trio had finally charged into the knights, their mounts clambering over their shields and pushing them into the ground. The lizards clawed and bit in a sudden frenzy at the trapped players, keeping them pinned as they desperately held them at bay with their weapons and armor.

A pair of players - one each from the KoB and the DDA - that stood directly in front of Razler were knocked on their backs, helpless as the splasher raised high its trident. Razler ran in, parrying the deadly jab and piercing the splasher's chest, rending its armor. The beast jerked back with a scream. Elise's axe swung wide in from the side, and buried itself into the monster's torso. Scales and armor shards went flying as the Splasher was thrown yards away by the force of Elise's swing, and it shattered before it even hit the ground. The riderless "Vile Gekk" that had been left behind by its owner's demise suddenly found small black knives flying into its eyes, and it followed its master quickly as the KoB knight followed up with a jab to the throat.

The knights said their thanks as they stood and rejoined the fight. Razler turned to attack one of the remaining two splasher guardsmen, only to find Klein lopping off the head of the second royal knight's mount in a single stroke. Meanwhile, a member of the KoB hauled another splasher guard from his lizard and threw it to the groun, where Samson crushed its chest with a single punch. Seriyuha and a member of the DDA impaled its lizard in the chest with their polearms, and forced it to the ground as it died.

The first three were dead - but Razler could already see more of the royal guards approaching.

"BACK INTO FORMATION!" cried Hinoka, and the raid was quick to follow her order.

Just like the trio that attacked before them, the next set of royal guards approached carefully. Six attacked this time - the majority of the ones left that Razler could see - their tridents tellingly angled toward the ground.

"Put your weight against your shields and lock them, don't let them knock us aside again!" cried Seriyuha.

The front line came together more firmly, their shields interlocking against one another. The six Splashers let loose their fierce water blasts, and the spouts crashed against the wall of shields with a fury that forced them all to step back against the assault. But their guards held.

Once the water assault subsided, Hinoka yelled, "Their lizards strike low, some of those in front need to lower their shields a bit, the rest of you cover the shoulders of the player next to you!"

"Alternate, everyone, do as she says!" said one of the knights of the KoB.

"Work together and we'll beat these fishy bastards!" roared one of the squad captains of the DDA.

The knights quickly coordinated, angling upward and downward inclines on their shields just as the royal guards and their mounts moved in. The lizards clambered atop the shields as they did before and tried to search for gaps that weren't present. Failing that, they pressed downward with their extensive bulk and merely tried to crush the front line with sheer weight. The splashers weren't so single-minded, but with the lizards' intentions divided from theirs, they couldn't properly move, and were easily killed on their mounts or torn from them, and the beasts followed suit.

"The lizards and the splashers are different entities!" cried Hinoka. "They can't work together properly, they've got different patterns!"

Three splashers were left patrolling in the open, and the raid split into three groups to take them down individually. The parties soon uncovered more of the creatures hiding on the other sides of or atop the pillars of the chamber, and all told they killed nearly twenty of the monsters in total. They gathered again on the far side of the chamber - at the mouth of another, wide, tunnel - where they stopped to catch their breath.

The splasher guards had worn Razler down to a little over half health, and most of the tanks were faring a bit worse than him. While the supports went about healing the other players, he spotted Hinoka out from the crowd and made his way over to her.

Razler tapped her on the shoulder and asked, "What do you think of those things we just fought?"

"They were definitely meant to wear us down," Hinoka said instantly. "It's why they didn't come running at us from all sides of this room, they were supposed to wait and force us to come to them."

Razler swept his gaze across the room, considering how the fighting would have been a little easier if they had stuck together. He could imagine the splashers had a way to punish them if they'd just tried to ignore them as they crossed.

"Now what were they guarding?" Klein asked as he peered into the darkness of the tunnel.

"Let's find out," said Seriyuha.

Once the raid was looking a bit healthier, they all moved on into the last tunnel, Seriyuha and Klein at the lead again. They walked for only a minute or two before Keh-keh suddenly announced that she saw a door up ahead. It came into view for the others soon after: a great, ten-foot door, engraved with images of water flowing on rocks.

There was no mistaking what _that_ was.

"Wait, how could _that_ be?" gasped one of the KoB members.

"This whole damn time were in the labyrinth," muttered Klein.

The door they were facing was unmistakably one which guarded the final boss of the seventy-sixth floor. They'd come so far - without even realizing it.

"That's why those splashers were meant to tire us out," said Seriyuha, "make us easier for the boss to kill."

She turned back to the others. "Well, we stumbled upon our goal a little earlier than planned. The question now is, what do we do with this?"

Razler stared wearily up at the door. He felt... tired. Facing the labyrinth boss was a hurdle they had to overcome but...

He really didn't want to do it at the end of an already-long day.

"Maybe we should put this off for now?" Klein asked with a glance to Seriyuha. "We're all beat and we haven't got Silica or Asuna with us, this isn't-"

"We should wait for The Flash to be able to join us!" cried one of the KoB leaders. His fellows began to shout their general approval, and their feelings on the matter soon spread to the others - even among the DDA.

"I'd... honestly feel a _lot_ safer about it if we had them in the party," Hinoka said quietly.

Seriyuha nodded, arms crossed. "I understand. Rushing into this would be stupid anyways."

She fished a crystal out from her inventory and raised it high. "Very well then! I'll mark this spot with a corridor crystal and we'll return once Asuna can fight again. In the meanwhile we should all rest and prepare ourselves for the fight ahead."

She cast a rueful glance toward the door. "Whatever's waiting for us in _there_ is sure to make Kelenar look like a small-fry..."

Razler began searching his inventory for a teleport crystal, eager to head home and get some sleep, when Seriyuha suddenly cried out. Looking up, he saw his guildmaster smiling back at him and the others.

"I just wanted to thank you all for fighting so well in the last few hours, and I appreciate your cooperation. If we can keep this up, we can get out of this prison yet!"

* * *

Seriyuha met with Asuna again that night - at her cabin, rather than her office - where she explained in detail how much progress they had made. She'd remained largely impassive throughout the debriefing, but the revelation that they'd found the floor boss caused arched eyebrows from the KoB Commander.

"Well," Asuna said once Seriyuha finally finished, "it sounds like you've been very busy the past few hours."

"Of course," said Seriyuha, "I had to take advantage of the fact that everyone was already there. Also, I wanted to remind the others what we're capable of."

"Well I'm glad we're getting somewhere, it's just a huge pain that I'm stuck here for a few more days," Asuna grumbled as she stared out the window.

"It'll be worth it, in the end," Seriyuha said with a soft smile on her face. "Seeing you in action again alongside Silica will be a huge boost to the other players, just wait and see."

Asuna scoffed, but Seriyuha could see her struggling not to smile. Glancing down, a small glint caught her eye. It was a simple light blue stone cut in the shape of a tear, hanging from around Asuna's neck and sparkling by the lights of the cabin. Jewelry existed in SAO, of course, but it had been a long time since Seriyuha had seen a piece so simple. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at it, her thoughts drifting back to...

"That's a very pretty necklace, was it a gift?" she asked without thinking.

Asuna's eyes darted back to Seriyuha, and then down at her chest. Her expression softened, and she reached slowly for the necklace. "Ah - yes. It's... It was..."

Seriyuha was jerked sharply out of her reverie, and a leaden weight settled in her stomach.

"I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked," she said quietly, looking down at her hands. Who else would have given Asuna something so personal?

"N-no, it's not that... This necklace... it's our daughter. Our daughter that we adopted. She's... waiting for us - for me. I can't believe I almost... left her behind. How awful of me..."

Looking up, Seriyuha could no longer see Asuna's eyes - they were hidden from her view by her hair. So desperate was she to read Asuna's expression and learn how badly she'd hurt the girl without realizing that Seriyuha couldn't look away.

"Well, we first saw her one day, while we were out in the forest on this floor..."

What followed was a strange and unbelievable tale of an AI that had somehow learned love - a story that left Seriyuha lying awake in thought for several hours that night.

* * *

Yeah, I actually didn't forget about Yui while I was writing the second chapter, I just couldn't think of a realistic way for any of the original characters to have known of her then. In the context of _that_ chapter, Asuna was too stuck in her grief to even think clearly about Yui - and would very likely have had a freak out moment upon remembering her (off-camera).

I'm curious, are my battle scenes too short? Do they cut out from the action too soon? I personally don't like overly-long fight scenes, but I was wondering if I go too far in the other direction. As you've seen, for longer fights I generally go into some details for a while and then shift into a more general description of events. If you'd be so good as to mention in a review your thoughts on this (and other critiques), I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for reading!


	8. Knights and Knaves

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

 _Although Seriyuha said that she wanted to set up a guild around the three of us, she didn't advertise the guild on any player boards. For a while I thought she was just being selective with her membership decisions, but I eventually realized that didn't make much sense. She could afford to be pickier if she had more people to choose from. Just what was she after?_

 _Seriyuha still stressed us not get involved in floor clearing even though Kibaou's guild was making a name for itself by doing just that. By then, Chigusa and I were used to her strange plans, so we decided to trust her. In the meanwhile, she continued to ask Chigusa to lead us to areas where only beta testers would know to explore first. At first I just thought that she wanted an edge over other players, but over time I began to wonder. Chigusa was sometimes mistaken about how efficient certain parts of the map were for grinding or finding items, but Seriyuha never seemed bothered by that._

 _By the time we reached the seventh floor, Seriyuha's behavior began to change. She was starting to lead us further afield, and became less worried about taking risks. Something told me that we'd soon learn just what she had planned._

 _I suspected back then that it had something to do with the fated arrival of the tenth floor. Once we got there, all bets were off. The testers never went any higher then that._

 _But it was wrong. I'd learn the truth behind her plans sooner than I expected, and it would all start with a simple treasure hunt._

* * *

As he stepped through the teleport gate to the Eighth floor of Castle Aincrad, Shirou's gaze was immediately assaulted by a wave of green.

Trees, trees, trees. Nothing but leaves, branches, and trunks as far as they eye could see.

Gaping, he stepped off the stone gate and onto the wood plank that surrounded it. He was standing on a man-made platform built around the sides of thick tree trunks. Everywhere around him was a massive forest, and the central town of the floor seemed to have been built somewhere up its understory. Rushing for the nearest edge of the platform, he looked down. And immediately felt his stomach hit his feet.

Where he expected to see a dense forest floor, he instead saw a vast lake - several yards down. The lake seemed to spread all across the underside of the forest. Just as trees were all around him, so was water everywhere below him. He couldn't see the bottom of that lake, but luckily – at least in his opinion – he couldn't see anything swimming across its surface either.

"Careful," Chigusa called to him from the gate. "Falling into the drink here is a pain in the ass."

Shirou immediately stepped away from the edge. "You can fall in?"

"Yeah, but I don't think you can drown. You _do_ have to find a ladder to climb back out though," said Chigusa.

Shirou scanned the lower areas of the forest for these ladders, and saw none nearby. Grimacing, he resolved himself to avoid that drop at all costs. "Is there anyting down there?"

"Not during the day."

Shirou was a little reassured - though he didn't like the ominous notion of what it might be like at night.

"Another forest floor, huh," Seriyuha said quietly. Turning her gaze from the forest and onto Chigusa, she said, "Where to first?"

"Well I definitely wanted to try the forest treasure hunt event in the Forest Depths in this floor," Chigusa said instantly. "In a fairly close part of the forest there's one of those classic Lost Woods-type areas where your sense of direction gets all screwy, and there's limited-time treasure chests in it. If we're lucky we might get some good loot before others beat us to it."

"How far away is it?" asked Shirou.

"This floor isn't very big across, but it makes up for it with going up and down these trees in some places," said Chigusa. "But it shouldn't take us more than a couple hours. It's not far - it's just about _finding_ the place."

"Do you remember where it is?" asked Seriyuha.

"I should be able to get us there," said Chigusa. "This floor's annoy – _looks_ annoying – but I'll do my-"

Somebody – a blond player dressed in light gear and muttering to himself – bumped into Chigusa while walking past her, and continued angrily on his way. Chigusa stared at him, and Shirou smiled, knowing what was coming.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she screamed at the man.

He ignored her as he continued on deeper into town.

"So," Seriyuha said pointedly, "where's that-"

But to Shirou's amusement, Chigusa was actually storming after the man, Seriyuha glaring at her back.

"Hey, you jerk, mind where you're going!"

"Hinoka, forget about it!" Seriyuha cried after her.

Ignoring the older woman, Chigusa reached the man and grabbed his shouder, and he spun around furiously on her. Even with the slightly-taller men glaring her down, Chigusa stood her ground against him, hands on her hips.

"Look, you trash newb," he said quickly, "I don't have time to listen to you blaming me for everyone's problems, I'm-"

Chigusa stared him right in the eye. "So what, that doesn't mean you get to just shove past me! And I'm not a trash-"

"I don't give a damn. I'm late getting here thanks to the stupid ninja girl and now-"

Shirou and Seriyuha advanced on him at the same time, causing him to take a few steps away from them, his hand straying to his rapier.

"Was her name Keh-keh?" asked Seriyuha

The man crossed his arms and turned on Seriyuha. Despite his attitude, Shirou felt a little for the man; it looked as though Keh-keh was being a busy girl again.

"Let me guess, you ran into that little brat too?" the man asked, his tone mellowing slightly.

"Twice," said Chigusa.

"She stole an item from me and challenged me to meet her in the Depths to get it back," he said slowly. He turned his glare to the forest. "It was my side-arm that she took. It's my own stupid fault, she acted impressed with my fencing when she saw I could dual-wield. I let my guard down."

Shirou stared at the man, not sure he'd heard the words properly. An off-hand weapon in SAO?

"That's impossible though," Chigusa said flatly. "If you try-"

"I know, I know," the man said impatiently, "the system assistance won't work, but I don't need that. I can fence in real life. I know a thing or two about handling swords."

Shirou's eyes widened, and he stared at the man as if seeing him in a new light. He seemed to be about Chigusa's age - he didn't look like a teenager at least - but at first glance he didn't strike Shirou as being the fencing type.

Mostly it was the sandy blond hair.

But if he was telling the truth, then he was one of the types that wasn't bound by the system's limitations. In other words, one of the people that Chigusa had said could be the strongest in the end.

"Impressive," said Seriyuha.

Shirou grinned sidelong at her, wondering if the inevitable, "let's work together" pitch was coming.

"I don't suppose we could trouble you to tag along?" she asked.

The man narrowed his eyes at her and asked, "What's in it for you?"

"We were heading that way anyways," said Shirou, "and we'd like a chance to show her up for once." Seriyuha shot him a glance, but he didn't return it. He suspected he could bring the matter up a little better than she would.

"We definitely would," muttered Chigusa.

After a pause, the man smirked at Shirou and nodded. "Count me in. You can call me Lyle."

The trio introduced themselves.

"Then it sounds like we're a team for now," Lyle said as he and Seriyuha shook hands.

Seriyuha nodded. "Let's hope we get what we're looking for."

"Oh, and," he started slowly, throwing Chigusa a brief glance, "sorry about the trouble earlier. I'm having a bad day."

Chigusa laughed quietly and smiled at him. "I won't hold it against you. I've been in your shoes with her."

"What'd she do to you?" Lyle asked, frowning.

"Kill-stole a quest boss and ran off with its loot," muttered Shirou.

Lyle rolled his eyes. "Classic dick move in online games. Well we'd best go prepared; catching trolls is never easy work."

"Couldn't agree more," said Chigusa, "we'll meet up at the south end of town in a few minutes."

The quartet split for a few minutes to explore Frieven, the city built among the treetops, and prepare for their journey. Built around massive tree trunks and far off the ground as it was, Frieven had multiple levels and spanned around and between several of the high trees. It seemed to Shirou to be larger than any city he'd seen so far - aside from the Town of Beginnings, of course. This was somewhat inconvenient; it took him a little over ten minutes to find the NPC blacksmith, but at least the city was far from crowded. That wasn't to say groups of players weren't to be found congregating here and there, and Shirou occasionally picked up some hints of their conversations. Most of the players just seemed to be chatting eagerly about the new floor and planning their adventures in it, but rarely did talk about the Forest Depths come up. It sounded like the only other players they were likely to run into were other Beta Testers. A nice and secluded romp in the forest, then.

Unless they ran into _Kibaou_ anyways.

Once he'd repaired his gear, checked upgrades, and stocked up on consumables, Shirou headed toward the south exit of the village. Lyle was already there waiting, and nodded to him as he approached.

"Hear anything interesting in town?" he asked once Shirou was within earshot.

"Not really, just some chatter about plans for the day."

Lyle chuckled and flashed a rueful grin. "You just have to know where to go to pick up the juicy stuff."

"How do you mean?"

Seriyuha was approaching, a curious look on her face.

"The shadier parts of towns - the lowest level of this village for example - are _great_ for picking up rumors or looking into the dark side of the player market," said Lyle.

Seriyuha frowned. "You mean stolen goods?"

"Yeah," said Lyle. "I thought my sword might end up there, but no luck."

"Did you hear anything else?" asked Shirou.

Lyle frowned. "No _disappearances_ on this floor yet," he muttered.

"That's good news," whispered Seriyuha.

Shirou felt a chill run up his spine. It wasn't so long ago that he'd first heard rumors of players being cut down by other players. It was bad enough that the monsters might kill you. He'd had wanted to believe that the circumstances everyone found themselves in would somehow bring out the best in everyone and _not_ resort to player-killing, but...

Well, griefers and assholes existed in _every_ online community. And the situation they were all in could easily drive players to extremes. Luckily, reports of player-killings were very far and few between.

Chigusa was the last to arrive, and after a brief planning session between herself and Lyle, the quartet struck out into the forest. The large man-made platforms continued as they left the village, but the sturdy plank walkways built between the platforms was quickly replaced by wood rope-bridges. The bridges swung and wobbled uncertainly underfoot, but they held. The flora rapidly became less tamed as they party moved on, with dangling vines and bushes creeping onto the walkways. A rather more extreme example of plantlife gone wild eventually presented itself in the forms of "Entings" - wooden creatures clinging to the trees.

Shirou almost missed the first of them - they were made of wood, after all - but as the party approached the creatures moved so fast to intercept them that their natural camouflage was rendered useless. Leaping from the trees and onto the walkways, they stood a little over six foot tall - and in the way of Shirou and his companions. They had vague facsimiles of eyes and mouths carved into the bark of their "heads", and their disproportionate limb lengths lent them a clumsy and awkward stance. Three of the monsters leaned in toward the party, propping themselves up with their gnarled limbs and making strange, throaty, growling noises from where their mouths would be.

"These things don't matter," Lyle said as he strode forward, rapier in hand. "They like to throw rocks at range but up close they're clumsy."

Grinning, Shirou shot a glance at Chigusa, who shrugged and said, "What he said, basically."

Lyle darted forward, rapier held ready. The closest of the enting trio gave a roar and lifted its misshapen arm, and suddenly a basketball-sized rock was there in it. It threw the stone in Lyle's path but he darted to the side before it was even in the air. The other two made to throw rocks of their own as Lyle came upon the first Enting, but he only had eyes for his main target. It raised its arm to dash Lyle against the walkway, but he thrust his rapier into the wooden monster's mouth before ripping it out roughly, causing the creature to jerk and its strike to hit the ground harmlessly. Another jab into its eye socket did the diminutive monster in. Without pause, he leaped into the air, and the two rocks thrown by the remaining Entings hit the ground beneath him.

"Not bad," said Seriyuha.

"There's plenty for all!" Lyle called back to the others.

Thus invited – if not challenged – the others dove in to Lyle's side. The girls reached the remaining two first; Chigusa struck from outside the reach of their arms with her long spear, and Seriyuha casually smashed their wild blows aside with her kite shield. Lyle watched, grinning, as the remaining Entings were struck down without incident.

"Hey, thanks for joining in there," he said, "I was starting to think you were gonna let me let me have all the fun."

"Well it's not often I get to watch a fencing master at work," Chigusa said, smirking.

Grinning, Lyle pat his sword by the pommel. "Believe me now? Once I get my swordbreaker back from the brat I'll show you what I can really do."

"Then let's get this show on the road," Chigusa said as she gestured southward.

They continued on like that for over half an hour, battling Entings as they came. Meanwhile, the plantlife around them slowly changed, with the creeping vines giving way to giant blooming flowers from under the walkways. Shirou paused to take a long look at one of them, taking in the vibrant blues and reds, and gave a long whistle. He almost thought he could see the pollen drifting from within the core of the flowers. He never could quite get used to the ways SAO continued to impress him. Looking onward, he saw more and more of them growing along the paths ahead.

"So what's up with these?" he asked. "How're they going to try and kill us?"

Laughing softly, Lyle said, "You catch on quick."

"So the flowers _are_ deadly?" asked Seriyuha.

"Not the flowers themselves," said Chigusa, "but you know what you usually see where you find flowers?"

Shirou stared at her, but Lyle answered his unasked question by pointing at one of the flowers - specifically, near its center.

Bees. Giant bees, with stingers so large he could make out the barbs, even from a few yards away. He instinctively shrank behind Seriyuha.

Unlike her younger companion, Seriyuha stood and faced the fuzzy threat calmly. "Are they poisonous?" she asked.

"No, and they're not _that_ aggressive or dangerous," said Chigusa. "Just mind the hives."

Smiling, she shot a dirty look at Lyle. " _Someone_ over there is trying to scare you two."

"Of course there'd be hives," Shirou muttered under his breath. He could only imagine how huge they would be - huge _and_ teeming with murderous giant bees.

"We're going to avoid any of them we see, then," Seriyuha said firmly.

Chigusa turned and gave her a glance. "Wait, you're not thinking Keh-keh would try to set them off, do you? I mean actually try to _kill_ us?"

"She's used monsters against us before," said Shirou. "I mean, so far she's only been annoying, but she only has to go too far one time, right? Better to play it safe."

"Stealing from other players is a small murder in this world, anyways," muttered Lyle.

Chigusa gave a small shudder and continued after him.

They maneuvered carefully through the bridges and platforms that criss-crossed the floor, careful to avoid the (huge, as Shirou expected) bee hives that appeared here and there. Unfortunately - yet unsurprisingly - they were often to be found looming over the most direct paths to their destination, forcing the party to detour through walkways and bridges that were infested by other enemies. After another hour of walking and killing giant bees and Entings, they came upon a four-way intersection in the forest walkways. Nothing stood out either north or south, but the east-going planks (the group having approached from the west) were shrouded in a dense fog. As Shirou tried to peer through it, he caught wisps of color dancing in the mist.

"Is that the way into the Forest Depths?" asked Seriyuha.

"One of them," Lyle said as he leaned on his sheathed rapier. "There's a few different ways in, which makes the area more confusing. That little brat said to come _this_ way, though."

"Why _here_? Are the rewards different in different parts of the forest?" asked Shirou.

"I don't think so, I didn't hear anything like that," said Chigusa.

"I'm pretty sure you can get anywhere from any of the ways in, she probably just said _this_ way so she could follow us more easily," Lyle said quietly.

"BINGO!"

Growling to himself, Shirou looked up, and saw the unmistakable little girl (now in mottled brown gear) sitting in a tree branch far above them. She was grinning down at them, her knees tucked in against her chest. In her hands was a small dagger. Unusually, it had several grooves cut into the blade, just large enough that another sword could be caught within one of them. She was dangling the weapon on her outstretched index finger, making no effort to conceal it.

"Hey Sword-lord! I see you've finally made some friends!"

"Get down here and we'll get _friendly_ with you too!" Chigusa screamed up at her.

"Calm down," snapped Seriyuha. "Keh-keh," she continued - more pleasantly - "give Lyle back his weapon, you're only causing trouble for everyone – yourself included."

"Nah, I'm _pretty sure_ he doesn't know how to climb trees so I think I'm good," said Keh-keh.

"I'm not the only person you've pissed off, just be grateful I don't associate with _player-killers_ ," Lyle said to her quietly.

Keh-keh gave a double take as she turned to look down at Lyle, her eyes wide. Then she gave a laugh, though there was a very slight crack to it. "You can bluff better than that, you know!"

Lyle glared up at her quietly, arms crossed.

Keh-keh's mouth twitched into the briefest of frowns, before she stood up on her branch. "Anyways, if you want this knife back, you gotta do something for me first!"

"What, dare I ask?" snapped Lyle. "Bring you all the treasure in this forest?"

"Nope, just explore.

Lyle cocked an eyebrow at her. " _What_?"

"Bye!" She leaped to another branch, and then another, and was quickly out of sight.

Lyle just shook his head and swore, but Chigusa stared after Keh-keh, leaving Shirou to wonder for a few wild seconds whether she was considering chasing the small girl into the forest. Finally however, Chigusa heaved a sigh and turned toward the others.

"She wants us to do all the legwork for her," she grumbled. "This is the same trick she pulled on us at the white spider lair."

"Is there a major boss in this forest?" asked Shirou. "If it's just stuff in chests she can't steal our hard work again, can she?" _Something_ wasn't quite adding up, but he wasn't sure what it was just yet.

"Not without attacking us directly," said Seriyuha.

"She can do whatever she likes," Lylle muttered as he began striding toward the entrance. "I'm getting my swordbreaker back."

He turned to the others. "Are you still in on this? You can keep anything else we find on the way in. That's the least I can offer in exchange for your help."

"Not at all," said Seriyuha. Turning to him, she smiled. "Getting caught up in this... silly distraction isn't a problem."

"Hanging out with so many ladies isn't half bad either," Lyle said. He winked at Chigusa and Seriyuha - both suddenly and utterly stone-faced - before he led the way into the fog.

Laughing quietly, Shirou patted Chigusa on the shoulder. Then he quickly said, "Dad always was saying you need to find a boyfriend!" before he took off after Lyle.

Chigusa's profanities followed behind.

Shirou slowed as he neared the fog, and took a moment to catch his breath. After another moment's mental deliberation, he took the first long stride into the fog, and was immediately enshrouded by it. Unable to see more than a few feet in any direction, Shirou tightened his grip on his sword and strained to listen for approaching footsteps, snapping foliage, wingbeats, or anything else that would hint at approaching dangers.

But he didn't hear anything, at least aside from the footsteps of his companions.

After a few more steps the fog lightened so that he could see a few yards around him, but thick mists still obscured what lay in the distance. That didn't bother Shirou much; he'd walked in the fog before. No, what truly troubled him was the noise - or lack of it. The forest was too quite – quieter by far than the rest of the floor had been. Before he'd heard the sounds of water sloshing below, or the wind on the leaves, or birds overhead. But not there, not in the Forest Depths.

Shirou couldn't shake the feeling that something was lurking in the mist. Lurking and watching.

"Isn't anything going to-"

"Ah, more greedy humans have arrived."

At first Shirou was certain that it was Keh-keh again, but the voice rang out from all directions at once, and had a musical edge to its tone. He looked to his sister, and saw her staring into the woods, her eyes narrowed and her spear drawn. His heart beat a little faster. Not even Chigusa knew what was going on?

"Many have tried to seize our ancient treasures, but they've been sealed away by the Spirit Queen. You won't have them so easily."

Shirou stared hard into the fog, determined to find the source of the voice. Though he listened hard, it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. But then, he caught sight of a purple wisp of smoke drifting as if on a breeze - a breeze he couldn't feel. He nudged Chigusa gently and pointed toward it, and the siblings watched the smoke as it flew through the sky. It twisted this way and that, and then joined other, similar-colored trails of vapor. The smoke grew denser and denser, and then coalesced a foot or two above the bridge directly ahead of them.

Floating there was what could only be described as a fairy made of purple mist. It had all the right (or cliché, one could say) features; a tiny figure, disproportionately lithe limbs, and strange otherworldly eyes. It was unusually large however - somewhere around four foot tall by Shirou's guess.

"I keep the secrets of this place! Prove yourself to me and I might aid you. Fail, and wander in ignorance!"

"Well _this_ is new," muttered Lyle.

Seriyuha stood before the fairy, a calm look on her face. "How shall we prove ourselves?" She asked.

"You seek power, but it takes wisdom to wield it! Show yours and be reward!" cried the spirit. "Seek me out!"

The spirit collapsed into purple vapor and flew – this time far more quickly – down one of the walkways into the woods, leaving behind a wisp of vapor behind it - vapor that changed colors just as the spirit had.

Seriyuha, her expression curious but untroubled, turned toward Chigusa and asked, "Should we follow?"

"It's like Lyle said, this didn't happen in the beta," said Chigusa. "How this place worked in the beta is that there were spirits – like the one that just yelled at us – floating around and they'd try to mislead you by shining will-o-the-wisps at you. Sounds like they reworked the event to be some kind of puzzle game. The event musta gotten poor feed-"

"Definitely a puzzle event," said Shirou. "'Show our wisdom.'"

Realization hitting him, he laughed. "So that's why Keh-keh brought us here. She probably got stumped!"

After a moment's pause, Lyle shot him a smug grin. "I do like the sound of _that_ ," he said as he set off to follow the spirit.

They caught up with Lyle soon after, and continued along the path the spirit had gone. Shirou had already noticed that Forest Depths were devoid of sound or wind, but he soon realized that they seemed empty of enemies too. He couldn't help but shiver occasionally as he stared into the fog before them, expecting to see pinpoints of light in the distance at any moment.

But he never did.

Where were the enemies? He wouldn't have minded seeing some; anything was better than waiting for attacks to suddenly come.

The walkways through the Depths were far more winding than those they had previously traversed, and they seemed to defy physics, often making wide curves between trees with nothing to support them, or suddenly going on corkscrews or twisting vertically. It took a lot of persuading from Chigusa and Lyle before Shirou and Seriyuha agreed to walk up what seemed by all accounts to be a wall, but their feet somehow kept the walkway just the same. The strange pathways would probably have quickly gotten the party lost, but they still had the spirit's trail to follow.

After a few minutes of exploring, they finally came turned a corner and saw the spirit floating on the path ahead, just at the opposite end of another four-way intersection. It waited there as they approached, a thick curtain of the omnipresent fog lingering just behind it.

"So, you've found me," the spirit said as they drew near. "Now you shall be put to the test. Answer truthfully:"

"What has a mouth but does not eat, has a bed but does not sleep, it always runs and never walks?"

Shirou stared for a moment. He'd guessed a riddle, but... He glanced this way and that, searching for inspiration. What has a mouth but doesn't eat?

But then Seiryuha said, "A river."

The spirit glowed blue for just a moment. "Well done. The correct way is open..."

The spirit collapsed once more and flew onward, the mist fading behind it just enough so that they could see the path beyond.

"So it _is_ a riddle game," said Lyle.

"Oh, I've got it," Shirou said, smiling. "Bed – river bed, mouth, always runs. Nice job, Seriyuha."

"That was an easy one," Seriyuha said, though she still allowed herself a grin.

"I figured it out too," Chigusa said quietly.

Shirou saw that his sister was actually glaring at Seriyuha's back, and had to stop himself from laughing. Continuing on after the fairy, they came into a part of the forest where wisps made of the same colored smoke could be seen lazily flying among the branches around them. Shirou watched them as they passed through, wondering whether an attack was coming. Lyle halted the group for a moment, but when the floating wisps failed to respond to the party's presence, he pushed on.

"Why aren't there any enemies around here?" asked Shirou.

"There _were_ some in the beta," said Chigusa. "Maybe we'll run into them when we get a question wrong."

"Look sharp, we might find out soon," Seriyuha said as she pointed her halberd forward.

There again was the spirit, waiting for them as it had before. As they approached, it repeated its declaration of a test and posed its question:

"On Monday, I planted a magic tree that grew twice its size that day. On Tuesday, it doubled in size again. For each day of the week it grew twice its size. By Sunday, it was full-grown, but when was it half-grown?"

"Okay," Chigusa began breathlessly, "If we count Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – because it doesn't grow _on_ Sunday – that's six days. So after the first three days – Oh, I know, it's-"

"Saturday," said Seriyuha.

" _No_ , dumby, it's obviously-"

"Well done. The correct way is open..."

Chigusa stared at where the spirit had been floating, eyes wide and mouth agape. "B-but what? Saturday's only the day before!"

"It grows twice its size each day," Seriyuha said as she began moving again, "so the day before the final day, the tree will be half its final size."

Chigusa paused a moment, during which time Shirou could almost see realization settling in, before she just glared at Seriyuha's back some more. Shirou patted her on the shoulder and gave her a rueful smile as he passed her by.

For about another ten minutes they followed the spirit's glowing path, during which time the walkways seemed to curve in increasingly-crazy ways, and the ambient fog slowly thickened. Before long, they ran into the spirit for a fourth time...

"What has roots that nobody-"

"A MOUNTAIN!" screamed Chigusa. "Hah!" she added to Seriyuha, who rolled her eyes.

The spirit glowed red. "Such rudeness, not even letting me finish. Typical human. You must tread the winding path now."

The spirit exploded into vapor that went every which way, and the fog that lay behind it darkened rapidly.

Everyone was quiet for a few long moments, before Lyle stepped forward. He was frowning, but not at Chigusa to Shirou's gratitude.

"Well, I'm not sure that was the right thing to do," he said. "And I don't wanna test this smoke, either."

Chigusa was on her knees, a dead look there in her eyes. "Sorry," she moaned.

Sighing, Seriyuha took one of the side paths. Lyle shrugged and followed after her, leaving Shirou the task of helping his sister up. The siblings followed Seriyuha and Lyle down one of the walkways and into a part of the forest where the mist was thicker still. Coming upon their first intersection, they ultimately selected a route entirely at random. There was no indication which way might be the correct one, and with the way the passages kept curving in bizarre directions, trying to head in any particular direction was a fool's errand.

On they went through a virtual M.C. Escher painting, all the while Shirou hoped that Chigusa wasn't beating herself up too badly about the situation.

Eventually they came across new glowing shapes, and Shirou's heart leaped at first before he realized he wasn't looking at the spirit that had been showing them the way. These new spirits were similar in basic appearance, but their forms were larger and shifted more chaotically. They moved across the bridges slowly, their limbs moving erratically and appearing to have difficulty settling on where their joints should be. "Lost Spirits".

"Well _that's_ new," said Lyle.

"They look like ghosts," said Shirou.

"Back in the beta the Depths were patrolled by Rogue Fairies," said Lyle. "These things _look_ like enemies, but I can't even tell if they're solid."

"Only one way to find out," Seriyuha said, halberd at the ready.

She dashed over to the nearest Lost Spirit and swiped her halberd across its midsection. Like with any other enemy, the halberd carved a red path through its victim, but the spirit turned toward Seriyuha and gave an otherworldly howl. Its reaction completely void of apparent pain, it seemed more angry than anything. Every other nearby spirit flashed red and began to charge on Seriyuha with newfound grace and speed in their movements. Shirou and the others were quick to join her. Enemies like these - ones that shared their aggressive states - were not to be taken lightly.

The spirit closest to Shirou raised its right front limb, the end of which suddenly looked quite solid and edged, and it jabbed straight, only to catch its appendage on Shirou's shield. Taking advantage of the opening, Shirou stabbed at the creature's midsection. He grinned in satisfaction as it roared, but it retaliated with a lash to Shirou's shoulder without pause. His breath caught in his throat as his hp fell a not inconsiderable amount, and he struck down the spirit with another slice to its head.

He winced, his hand over his shoulder. Pain wasn't a thing that was felt in SAO, but the thought of a shadow's sharpened limb plunging into his body still sent chills through him.

But even worse than that...

"Be careful, these things don't flinch when you hit them!" he cried as another spirit came upon him.

"Already figured _that_ one out," said Lyle. He had killed one, and was starting on another.

Shirou finished a second specter off, and turned to another only for Chigusa to run it through. He paused to catch his breath as Seriyuha killed the last spirit. In that very moment the forest's deep and eerie quiet resumed, as if the fight hadn't even happened.

"We should be careful of these in the future," Seriyuha said quietly. She quickly drank a health potion before continuing on; her hp had fallen to the halfway point.

Shirou lingered just a moment longer, watching Chigusa. She was following behind Seriyuha as if normally, but her eyes were low. He could already imagine that she was blaming herself for the new peril they'd landed in.

They went on like that for nearly an hour, trying to work what paths they could through the insane twisted walkways of the Forest Depths. Nobody said anything, and the oppressive silence of the forest settled on them like a leaden weight. How long was it going to be until they found the spirit again? How were they supposed to get out if they couldn't find it? Shirou peered over the edge of the walkway, into the forest lake below. Would falling in there eject them from the quest area? Unless the floor was truly gigantic, the Forest Depths couldn't have shared physical floor space with the rest. In fact, it would almost make more sense if it _didn't_.

How far did they have to go...

They fought Lost Spirits that appeared in their way, traversed along corkscrewing paths, and went up walkways angled at ninety degrees. Shirou's concern for Chigusa and her worries grew by the moment, but then finally they rounded a bend and caught sight of a familiar shifting light. Shirou laughed in relief, and even Lyle gave a noticeable sigh.

"I see you stumbled your way here, humans, would you like to try once more?" it asked. Shirou became annoyed at the spite that laced its tone, and he had to stop himself from attacking the annoying thing.

"Answer truthfully:"

"The rich need me. The poor have me. If you eat me you will die. What am I?"

Shirou automatically turned to Seriyuha, who was looking at the spirit with her eyes narrowed. Surely she knew this one?

Lyle shrugged and muttered, "You got me."

"Answer me, humans! I won't wait long!"

"Seriyuha?" Shirou asked, his heart pounding.

Seriyuha grit her teeth and shook her head quietly.

Damn! What was it? Some kind of poison - the spirit said it would kill somebody who ate it. But why would rich people need _poison_?

"Uh," went Chigusa, "I think the answer is 'Nothing'."

The spirit glowed blue and said, "Well done. The correct way is open..."

Shirou sighed in relief, his knees weak. They were _that_ close to meandering around in the forest again...

"Nicely done," Shirou said breathlessly.

"I'd say that makes up for that 'mountain' blunder," Lyle said as he smiled at Chigusa.

Beaming, she walked right past Seriyuha and through the fog. Seriyuha watched her go and glanced toward Shirou. Grinning, he shrugged and followed behind her. After only a few more steps through the fog, they came upon a simple wooden chest. The walkway ended there; no doubt they'd found their reward.

"I think you've earned this one, Hinoka," said Lyle.

Shirou agreed (emphatically), and even Seriyuha nodded.

Smiling, Chigusa tapped the chest with the shaft of her spear, causing it to slide open slowly. A window appeared in front of her, and her eyes shot wide.

"Yeeeeeeeees!" she squealed.

"What's in it?" asked Shirou. There was no telling what might get her so excited.

With the press of a few buttons on her menus, her spear popped out of existence and was quickly replaced by a new polearm. Laughing, he grinned uncontrollably as he recognize its curved blade and handguard. "Spirit Naginata."

"Hey, 'grats on finally getting a naginata," he said as he clapped Chigusa on the shoulder.

"Took long enough," she said, smiling at it.

"So what now?" asked Lyle.

"That is but one of the treasures left behind by the Fairy Queen, and one which you have proven yourself worthy of bearing. Seek out my sisters in the other corners of the forest if your greed compels you further."

The spirit had appeared behind them one last time. Its quotes finished, it burst into smoke once again, but the smoke spread and thickened instead of dissipating. Unsure what to expect, Shirou stepped back, but his vision was soon completely obscured. After a moment or two of not being able to see anything, the smoke suddenly and rapidly cleared, and he found himself somewhere new. The treasure they'd opened was nowhere in sight, and they were standing in the middle of a four-way intersection.

"Where are we this time?" asked Seriyuha, a hint of irritation in her voice.

They were definitely within the Depths - the continued presence of the thick mist was proof of that – but the fog was lighter, and the general pressure of the place was lessened.

"I think we're back where we started," said Chigusa.

Looking around, Shirou could only nod. It made sense, though he could barely remember one section of walkway from any other.

"So are we going back in?" he asked. A part of him wasn't eager to get lost in the Depths again, but it sounded like there was some valuable loot to be found.

"No, we need to find that brat already," said Lyle. "I need my swordbreaker back..."

"Okay Lye-lee, no need to _cry_ about it."

A certain _someone_ was watching them from above again.

"How does she keep standing on branches, shouldn't those be unwalkable?" he whispered to Chigusa.

"There's very few areas that are truly marked as invisible walls in SAO," she answered back, "but it's still super hard and dangerous to get up there. She must have high agility. Or she's good at climbing trees in real life."

Lyle glared upward. "You had your fun, now give me back what's mine!"

"Not yet!" Keh-keh said, smiling back down at them. "Come back here tonight and I'll tell you what _else_ you can do to get your little knife back."

"Oh, so it's moving the goalposts now?" Lyle said quietly.

Razler stared him, a chill running down his spine. He would have expected him to be mad, but Lyle sounded almost _calm_. Chigusa was also watching him closely, and the siblings exchanged looks.

"Yeeeeeaaaah. So come back to the Depths at around 8 pm and I'll give you your knife back. This time for realsies."

Keh-keh flipped out of sight again as she had before.

"She's such a winner," muttered Chigusa.

"Yeah, and I've had enough of her," said Lyle.

"What're you going to do?" asked Seriyuha.

"I'm _not_ playing games with a kid anymore," he muttered.

Instead of heading into the Depths he turned and made for the exit back into the forest proper. Just before he was engulfed in the fog, he turned back toward them. "Oh, but thanks for trying to help me out. It's just too bad things didn't work out any better."

"Is there any other way we could help you?" asked Seriyuha.

"No, at this point I don't want to bother with this any more, and I've taken enough of your time already," he said quietly. He raised his hand to them one last time in farewell before he continued on.

"Best of luck!" Seriyuha called out to him.

"You're not gonna try recruiting him?" whispered Chigusa.

"Not now," Seriyuha said - quietly. "He's too busy worrying about his weapon..."

They simply watched Lyle go, nobody saying anything to stop him. And then the trio were alone once more, and silence took hold. Shirou stared at nothing, not sure how to break the quiet. Their quest hadn't exactly ended on the most satisfying note...

"Think we should try coming out here anyways?" he finally said.

"How would that help?" asked Chigusa. "Lyle's right, she's just going to make up new things for him – and us – to do."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna just leave things hanging like this," said Shirou.

The siblings turned to Seriyuha for answers, and found her frowning at the ground.

"You both have good points," she said slowly and quietly. "I'm not as worried about Lyle – though I WOULD like his help in the future – but Keh-keh's becoming a problem."

"She's just one troll," said Shirou.

"But we keep running into her," Chigusa said to him.

"True," Shirou muttered quietly. She _was_ definitely being a pain, and there was no telling when she'd go too far with her pranks. Children weren't exactly known for their restraint. "Well," he said, looking toward Seriyuha, "we know she'll be here tonight."

Seriyuha, arms crossed and eyes to the ground, didn't look up. "If she's telling the _truth_ , that is," she said quietly.

That wasn't necessarily a "no", and Seriyuha probably could guess what Shirou was thinking. "How dangerous is this floor at night?" he asked Chigusa.

"This floor's a little different," said Chigusa. "Back in the Beta, there were less enemies at night, but because of all these trees the moonlight can't shine through to our level, so it'll be pitch-black out here."

She jerked her head toward the edge of the walkway. "And with how winding these paths can get, it gets _easy_ to fall in in the dark."

"That doesn't sound so bad, we just have to-"

"There's," Chigusa said slowly. She paused to glance into the water below, and shuddered. " _Dwellers_ down there at night."

Despite himself, Shirou looked over the edge as well. The water was placid, as it always was when he checked. Somehow he'd never stopped to wonder if anything was _living_ down in there. He thought he saw a ripple in the water, and looked away, heart hammering.

He didn't know how to fight in the water... He wasn't even sure it was possible. He decided not to ask Chigusa whether it was.

"Well," he said, his stomach still writhing, "I don't think she's trying to _kill_ us... Maybe just scare us?" he asked, looking to Seriyuha.

"We can't rush into this," she said with a slow shake of her head. "I think we need to go back to town and think this over. How do you two feel?"

Shirou looked back into the Depths, frowning. "After all this, I don't really feel up to going back anyways." He felt bad for Chigusa, but the whole thing felt like a weight in his gut.

"That's cool, I'll defer with the majority on this one," Chigusa said with a smile. She, at least, wasn't coming out of the forest empty-handed.

Nodding, Seriyuha quietly led the way out of the Depths, Shirou and his sister trailing just behind her. Their trip back to Frieven was largely without incident – save for a few short encounters with monsters. As they crossed under the wooden archway into town, Shirou began to suggest they find an inn for the floor, only for Seriyuha to dart off in the direction of a cluster of npc shops. The siblings hurried after her, and caught her at a store made for handling and dispersing player-made materials. They were often used to sell cheap items or excess gear; they were effectively player mercantile boards from other games.

Seriyuha was already in the middle of a transaction with the storekeeper NPC when they arrived. She pulled her new item, a plain and small notebook, out of her inventory without pause. Shirou recognized it after a moment: it was the same manual that Keh-keh had used a few times at the Dragon Ruins.

Catching sight of the book, Chigusa noted, "One of those guides the other beta-testers made."

"We should have picked one up back at the second floor," Seriyuha said as she made for one of the benches that lined the platform.

"Whaaat, you don't trust me anymore?" Chigusa asked with a smile.

"Of course I do," Seriyuha said as she began opening the manual, "but Keh-keh relies on these things for her information, and knowing what she knows about this floor couldn't hurt."

"Nice thinking, Boss," Chigusa said as she took a seat on top of the bench's back rest

Seriyuha's mouth jerked into a self-satisfied smile as she opened a window that bore the contents of the booklet.

Shirou sat down next to Seriyuha, and tried not to get too close as he read the book along with her. Seriyuha rapidly scrolled through the pages of the guide, until she finally came upon the chapter dedicated to the eighth floor. From there she skipped a little slower until she first found mention of the Forest Depths. All three then began quietly reading. Chigusa's memory of the event space had mostly been correct; there was no mention in the booklet about riddles or the ghosts they'd fought there, and indeed the perils during the time of the beta had mostly been centered around misleading and confusing players within its boundaries. Information was pretty sparse aside from what loot could be picked up; it seemed that the beta testers hadn't gotten very far with the Depths.

But - and Shirou suspected this was what Seriyuha was most interested in - the booklet didn't mention any changes at night that were specific to the Depths and its events. Ultimately and unfortunately, the book didn't seem to offer much insight of what Keh-keh had planned.

Finally, she closed out the booklet and stretched. "Well that's that. This book's _supremely_ unhelpful about the Forest Depths," she said quietly.

"The only players who should have gotten there so far are the testers and people who've read these books," said Chigusa, "so I don't think she could have heard anything we haven't."

"Maybe _that's_ why she wants us to come back tonight?" asked Shirou. "She used us once already to learn more about the riddle event."

"It's probably something like that, yeah. Only way we'll find out is if we go there ourselves," said Chigusa.

"I hate to say it, but I agree," Seriyuha said quietly.

Keh-keh had _some_ sort of scheme, that was for sure.

A grim look on her face, Seriyuha stood and turned to the siblings. "Here's where we stand. I'd like to finish our business with Keh-keh, or at least get her out of our hair. I think we're best off taking her bait and heading to the Depths tonight. Needless to say, this could be dangerous. We haven't made a habit of wandering around at night before, and for good reason."

Chuckling, Chigusa leaped off of the bench. "Taking risks isn't like you, Seriyuha!"

"I think you're a little too excited about getting that spear," Seriyuha said, frowning at Chigusa.

Shirou agreed with his sister, though he wasn't quite as amused about it as she was. They _did_ need to do something about Keh-keh, but wandering around the forest at night just because she'd asked them to didn't strike him as a good plan.

"What do we even do when we find her?" he asked.

"Scare her straight, of course," Seriyuha said, grinning mirthlessly at her. "Do you remember Lyle's implication about player-killers? While we're on the way to the forest, I'd like the two of you to split up and enter from other ways. We'll let her think she's being stalked when the two of you go missing."

"And what if something _actually_ happens to us?" asked Shirou.

Seriyuha's smile faded immediately. "Of course I want the two of you to be _extremely_ careful. Break off the plan at the first sign of trouble and come back."

"Sounds like we're winging it to me," said Chigusa, "but I'll trust you on this one, Seriyuha.

"There's a map of the floor in this guide," Seriyuha said, offering it to Chigusa. "Be sure to study it before tonight."

They did as Seriyuha asked while she went and picked up another copy for her own use. Shirou expected her to be back after only a few minutes, but soon half an hour passed and there was no sign of her. Both siblings seemed to realize their leader wasn't in a hurry to come back, and they exchanged worried glances.

But ultimately they decided against looking for her. Seriyuha could take care of herself.

They spent a few hours together, doing some planning and a lot of talking. There was no telling exactly Seriyuha had planned, and while Shirou didn't really want to think much of what they'd be doing in a few hours, he didn't want to go in completely unprepared. Besides, spending time just sitting with Chigusa and talking was a welcome change from the usual of spending all day running around virtual fields, killing monsters, cheating death, and growing stronger. It felt a little like a normal day with her for once.

The wind blowing through the leaves and the feel of the sunlight filtering through them was a nice break from the oppressive weight he'd felt in the Forest Depths, and he almost managed to forget that they'd soon be returning as the sun slowly set.

Almost.

Seriyuha finally returned just before seven, and the trio broke for a short while to make final preparations. She explained that she'd gone to wait around the shady parts of town to listen in on rumors, obviously having. With their appointment drawing near, the trio broke to make their final preparations. Shirou decided to take Seriyuha's lead and descend into the lowest level of the village himself. He wasn't sure what he might have expected, but it was still rather more ordinary-looking than he felt it would be. It was really just a purely-comsetic bottom tier of the village area meant for npc homes, in which several players had decided to gather, exchange information, and sell items. There weren't any more shadowy corners than there had been elsewhere, and nobody seemed to be trying to hide their doings.

Guess wretched hives came in all flavors.

While he pretended to peruse the player sale board, he listened in on conversations happening nearby. One party was discussing distribution of loot they'd picked up, while another was making plans for their next day. Mostly they seemed to talk about what they'd done in the forest that day or would do the next day, but nobody was talking about going back out into the forest _that night_. It seemed even the shadier players were careful sorts. Eventually he gave up and ascended back into the city proper. Up in the more reputable parts of town, most of the players were congregating in the town inns and eating dinner. He sighed, a mirthless grin on his face.

Only _they_ were dumb enough to go out into the field at night.

Turning toward the city gate, he caught sight of someone familiar out of the corner of his eye – Lyle. The swordsman was moving in a hurry, and in the opposite direction Shirou was. Shirou paused for a moment and calling out to tell the older player of their plans, but decided against it and hurried for the south gate. It was probably kinder to wait until they had results - Lyle had been disappointed enough times for one day.

At last, he rejoined his sister and their leader at the town gate. Both were already waiting for him. Seriyuha nodded to him as he approached, her expression more of a mask than was usual. Chigusa looked a little whiter than normal to him - but that might have been his imagination.

Looking out into the forest, he found himself unable to see more than a few feet beyond Frieven. The village itself was cheerfully illuminating by the suspended city lanterns, but beyond that there was only inky blackness. Chigusa hadn't been kidding about how dark it would be at night.

Luckily, the three of them had lanterns at the ready.

"If either of you aren't comfortable with this, you're-"

"All we're doing is sneaking around a pitch-dark forest at night to scare a resourceful little troll girl," Chigusa said, grinning. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Seriyuha frowned at her. " _Try_ to take this seriously, would you?"

"Okay okay. We _do_ need to be careful of monsters in the Depths at night," said Chigusa. "Those Lost Spirits from earlier today could be wandering for all we know."

She leaned forward toward Seriyuha, smiling, but the older woman just staring at her with a particularly stony face. "That acceptable, boss?" asked Chigusa.

Seriyuha heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Well, Hinoka's obviously not the least concerned about this. How about you, Razler?"

"I just wish we had a better plan," he said.

Seriyuha smiled mirthlessly. "I'm with you there. Worst case scenario we just have to do whatever dumb game she has planned, but there's no telling where _that_ would end."

"Probably somewhere very annoying," Shirou said as he fell in line behind Seriyuha.

The trio walked out into the forest for the second time that day, their lanterns aglow and banishing the darkness around them. Even still, Shirou couldn't see more than a few feet in any direction, and he didn't dare let his eyes wander when the path under his feet might suddenly change direction. He could still remember Chigusa's warning that "natives" lurked in the vast lake at night, and it took all the self control he had not to try to look over the edge of the platforms.

The forest was quieter than it had been during the day, but not so eerily silent as the Depths had been; Shirou could still hear occasional breezes or night critters nearby. However, the forest held the same unnerving lack of enemies that the Depths. The entings and wasps that plagued them during the day were nowhere to be found at night. Chigusa had said it would be like that, but it still made him unneasy.

"Where's all the enemies?" he whispered to Chigusa.

"I told you there wouldn't be any," she whispered back.

"I know _that_ , but why?"

"Oh. Well Plants and Flying Insects usually sleep at night," she replied just as quietly, "and the enemies in this part of the forest were those. Back in the beta goblins would appear, but they'd keep falling into the lake and causing server lag with all the ones that had to die and keep respawning, so they just got rid of all the nocturnal enemies. I hear the northern parts got pretty-"

A loud grinding sound – a _crunch_ like something slamming against bark – echoed from below, and Shirou nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Sounds like those lake creatures you mentioned are up and about," Seriyuha said quietly.

"Y-yup," said Chigusa.

Shirou kept closer to his sister and Seriyuha from there. He tried not to imagine what kind of creature could make that noise. He didn't dare ask Chigusa just what it looked like either.

Though his heart threatened to escape his chest with every step of the way and his ears strained for sounds of the _creatures_ below, Shirou eventually realized - as they came across a familiarly-gnarled tree - that they were progressing faster than they had during the day. It wasn't long at all before the mists of the Depths danced by the light of their lanterns before them.

"Okay, you both know which way to go," said Seriyuha. "Be _careful_. Please."

Chigusa and Shirou exchanged glances and turned away from each other, leaving Seriyuha alone on the central path. Their plan was for her to enter the forest slightly after they had. Then they'd cause a ruckus to fighten Keh-keh. Shirou moved along, alone, his feet feeling heavier than he could ever remember them feeling during his time in Aincrad. It wasn't long before he passed beyond all sight or sound of his two companions. Now alone and guided only by his own lantern light, Shirou walked carefully on the path to his own section of the forest.

The quiet around him seemed to go from normal to overwhelming, especially now that he didn't even have the footsteps of his friends to drown it out. He could hear every rustle of the leaves far above, and every slosh of water below. Perfectly ordinary ambience suddenly seemed to him to be danger lurking at all sides.

 _Crrrrcckkk_

Heart hammering, he shined his light in the direction of the sound, but he knew it came from far below. The lake creatures that dwelled didn't climb up the trees - at least not in this part of the forest. Chigusa had said that. And he and the others would have seen the monsters already if they _did_. His legs shaking just a little, he forced himself to turn and continue on. Their plan would be ruined if he got himself lost...

 _Left, right, straight, right._

He and Chigusa had gone over his directions until he could recite them by memory while she was trying to distract him - they'd both wanted to be sure nothing would happen out in the dark. He only had to make sure he didn't get turned around. Fortunately, the paths were still clear. The ents and wasps were still sleeping peacefully – they were the lucky ones.

Finally, the misted path leading into the Depths came into view, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Now he only had to go inside and wait for Seriyuha's message.

Once he was inside, the familiar spirit creature appeared and recited the same accusatory message it had delivered back during the day, but he ignored it and found a tree to sit against. Still, it was nice to know he wasn't _completely_ alone, even though his only companion was a xenophobic npc forest spirit. Once he was situated in a corner of a platform and with a tree to his back, he dimmed his lantern. He'd be safer blending in with the darkness. To his surprise, the mists of the Depths glowed faintly, allowing him to make out the path from the plunges into the lake once his eyes adjusted. It was still too dark to see very far or make out details, but he could easily tell what was solid from what was a drop into the lake.

At least he'd know where it was safe to stand.

Breathing out slowly, he tried to calm his beating heart as best he could. There was a chance it would be several minutes before Seriyuha sent her signal that it was time to begin the plan. The quiet that had plagued him earlier put him at ease now that he wasn't making noise himself. At least he could be sure nothing was moving nearby. He grinned into the night. In a strange way, the darkness that concealed threats also concealed _him_ from _them_. He only had to listen carefully for anything approaching.

 _Whoosh_

Speaking of.

Shirou leaned closer against the tree and struggled hard to control his breathing. Had a monster found him? Was it part of the event?

"HIYA!"

A black shape suddenly dropped down right in front of him. Keh-keh. The girl spent a few moments giggling to herself, hands behind her head, while Shirou struggled to find words.

"D-dammit, you little fucking brat!" Shirou eventually managed.

"Sorry, but you looked so lonely hiding in the dark out here!" said Keh-keh. "So why'd you guys split up? What dark schemes have you got cooking for me?"

Shirou growled as he got to his feet. Of _course_ she'd manage to trip them up somehow.

"You followed us all the way from town?" he asked, hardly believing that she'd be so thorough.

"Nah, just from that last fork in the path. I decided I'd wait out there, see if you were going to pull anything shifty on me," she said, grinning toothily at him.

"So why'd you follow me?"

"Well you guys made it super obvious I was supposed to talk to the older lady and the other lady would just scream at me, so I chose you!" She grinned, her hands on her hips. "Aren't you lucky!"

"Why don't you just cut this garbage and give Lyle back-"

Keh-keh suddenly whirled around, her hand held back to silence him. Shirou crouched, his hand straying to his sword.

"Someone's coming," she whispered.

"Probably just-"

"No, different footsteps."

"Make this easy on the both of us and come out."

That was _definitely_ not Chigusa or Seriyuha. It was a man's voice, but not one Shirou could remember hearing before. It sounded like it belonged to an older man - somewhere around Samson's age. Somebody _else_ had followed them!?

"I can see through your Hiding skill clear as day, little girl, and don't try climbing in the trees either unless you want knives in your back. Make it easy on yourself and stay put."

Shirou could see it now – something moving through the mist down the path he'd come from. They were too dark to make out any details - probably they were wearing black. All he could see was the glint his two-handed sword cast off the mist.

This was bad: he couldn't tell a thing about how dangerous this man would be without being able to see him. He couldn't even see the man's player diamond until he was able to see the man in full.

Something solid and soft backed into him, and he nearly jumped, but it was only Keh-keh. He was suddenly very relieved to not be completely alone, but then Keh-keh kept backing up, as if to push herself further into Shirou.

 _And she was quivering._

"Who is he?" he whispered.

"He – he -" her voice was shaky, her tone uncontrolled.

"Don't play dumb," said the man. "You know what this is about: PoH and Johny Black want you dead. You've toyed with the wrong people, little girl."

This was _bad_. Who the hell were PoH and Johny Black? Who had Keh-keh gotten on the bad side of!?

He was practically shaking, but Shirou gently moved Keh-keh out from in front of him and stepped forward. He couldn't just let a child get murdered right in front of him.

"H-hey, cut her a break," he said. "She's just a stupid kid. Look, I'm sure we can work something out-"

"You have five seconds to get out of my way."

Shirou was half-sure he could see the man's eyes gleaming in the dark. He could still only make out his rough shape.

"You have no idea who she is or the enemies she's made. Don't be a fool and throw your life away, kid."

Shirou could barely breath. He was staring down death. For the first time in SAO, his life was in actual peril. This was different from the dumb monsters he'd killed by the dozens in his time in the game; he'd _never_ fought another player before. He was against a foe he couldn't even properly see, and his enemy didn't seem the type to back down.

His whole body shaking head to toe and his vision tunneling, he moved to sheathe his sword with his fumbling hands. Nobody could hold it against him if he ran... Right?

Chigusa would be happier to know he'd kept himself safe. Seriyuha had told him to abandon the plan if it looked dangerous. The whole thing had nothing to do with him. He had to stay alive - for Chigusa and his father, if not for himself. They were waiting for him to come back.

He... had to survive...

Shirou heard somebody sobbing nearby - very nearby. Who was there? He wasn't alone?

" _Mommy... Help me_..."

He shook his head, his vision clearing.

He _couldn't_. He _wouldn't_ just leave Keh-keh to die.

"I won't," he said, leveling his sword, "let you hurt her."

"That's a damn pity, kid."

The man raised his sword, and Shirou immediately brought his buckler up, expecting an attack. None came. Shirou held his his buckler and sword ready, but his heart was beating out of control. The man was standing there, poised to strike but not moving.

What was he going to do!? This was insane! He didn't know how to fight a player!

He needed some kind of plan. Keh-keh was still cuddled against his leg, quivering and sobbing. She was in no condition to fight, but she could still help.

"I'll hold him off, go find my sister and Seriyuha! Get help!" he snapped quietly at Keh-keh.

She just sat where she was, shivering and whimpering.

"Keh-keh!" he hissed, "get a hold of your-"

The assassin's strike came so fast Shirou almost couldn't see it. One minute he was standing there, and the next the light of his sword was suddenly approaching. Shirou barely raised his shield in time, and the force of the man's charge drove him back into the tree. With barely a second's delay, the man swung viciously at Shirou's chest, giving him barely enough time to duck. Grabbing Keh-keh by the collar, Shirou leaped away toward the center of the platform just as the assassin swung low at them. Shirou's lantern was sent tumbling onto its side. At least he wasn't _completely_ blind without it...

Shirou set Keh-keh down and stood, shield and sword ready.

"Get up, come on, get up!" he yelled at the girl. Keh-keh was openly sobbing and pleading for her life.

The man charged again, but Shirou caught his charge with his shield. Pushing forward, Shirou swung at the man's midsection, and was rewarded with a shallow swipe of red that lit up the assailant's body for just a moment. The man growled and swung an overhead strike at Shirou, forcing him to leap back, but the man's swift followup swipe caught him across the belly, instantly bringing his health to half.

Shirou stumbled backward, gasping. He couldn't feel the pain of the blow, but seeing how much damage he'd been dealt in a single strike made his heart beat even faster. Not only did he have to keep himself alive, he had to protect Keh-keh while doing it, and he was already outclassed by his opponent.

He gnashed his teeth.

"You aren't bad," the man said quietly, "but you're out of your league. You're going to learn that there's no heroes in this-"

"I thought the hero always showed up late?"

The killer made a sound of disgust and moved to the edge of the platform, out from the centerpoint between Shirou and the direction of the new voice. Whoever the new arrival was, he wasn't one Shirou recognized, and he couldn't see him properly either. All he was sure of was that the figure was smaller than his attacker – and probably a little shorter than Shirou himself.

"What's with you people crawling out of the woodwork to interfere with me?"

"I thought I'd finish up some grinding with a treasure hunt. Then I overheard you."

"Who the hell grinds out in the field at night – alone?"

Shirou privately shared his attacker's opinion. This guy was either kidding, or insane.

"It sounds like you're pretty set on this, but I've got some pretty nice loot from earlier that I wouldn't mind-"

"Tried that, didn't work," said Shirou.

"It was worth a try."

Shirou heard metal sliding free from a sheath. The attacker turned a little more toward the newcomer, and Shirou saw his opportunity. His heart pounding in his throat, Shirou remained as still as he could, determined to lose the killer's attention. Once the assassin was occupied fighting the new arrival, Shirou would attack the guy from behind. Everything had changed in an instant!

"Hey, mind keeping out of this over there?" the stranger called out to Shirou, as if reading his mind. "You're in pretty bad shape and I can take this guy alone."

"That's enough!" the attacker cried as he dove in for a third time that night.

His strike met only air. Shirou could see from the mist-light glinting off the sword of his savior that he'd stepped out of the way of the attack at the last moment. The mysterious player stepped forward, his evasion flowing into an attack in nearly one motion. It was almost so fast that Shirou missed it. The assailant did too; the blade struck him cleanly from behind. He gasped, stepped forward, and turned, swinging wide as he did. The newcomer parried the blow and lunged, barely missing the attacker.

The newcomer was _fast_. Possibly faster than Lyle.

Uttering a sound of disgust, the assassin took a long step or to back, back toward the very way in that all three men had taken that night.

"Another time, girl. There's too many meddlers here tonight."

Shirou, hardly believing it was already over, stood motionless and shaking as the attacker's footsteps signaled his retreat. He was gone just as suddenly as he arrived...

"Well, good thing I made it in time."

Snapping back to reality, Shirou sheathed his weapon, and found his lantern being forced into his hand. Whoever it was that had saved him, his tone had shifted to complete ease in seconds.

Shirou could properly see his savior by the light of his lantern now; a young teenager, with a plain (if slightly feminine) face, simple black hair, and wearing almost casual-looking black clothing.

Someone like _this_ had fought off that assassin? He was even younger than Shirou himself!

But Shirou restrained his disbelief and offered his hand. "I'm Razler. thanks for saving Keh-keh and I," he said.

"Kirito," the boy said, glancing down at Razler's hand. It was a moment or two before he finally accepted, and Kirito was quick to end the shake.

Keh-keh's sniffling brought the attention of both young men to her, and Kirito knelt down before her.

"Looks like you're safe now, so cheer up."

Keh-keh stumbled to her feet, still sobbing softly. "T-thank you... you saved my life..."

"Not just me, thank Razler up there too."

Keh-keh looked up at him, and Shirou looked back, immediately not liking what he saw. He should have expected it, but he was still stricken by the look on her face. She was was pale, tears still in her eyes, and her mouth slightly agape in a crooked frown. Nothing remained of the perpetually smiling little troll... Keh-keh mumbled something amidst her sobbing, and he nodded.

"So," Shirou said to Kirito, "what can I do-"

"SHIROU!"

There was only one person who'd scream like _that_.

Chigusa and Seriyuha appeared, both running down a different path than the one Shirou and Kirito had taken. Chigusa was at a full sprint, taking the winding turns of the Depths walkways as if she were drifting. Shirou turned to his sister, half-formed placations uttered, when she tackled him to the ground.

"Shirou are you hurt!? We couldn't reach you, what were you thinking almost getting killed like that!?"

Shirou tried to search for the right apology to offer, but ultimately he settled on giving Seriyuha a pleading look. Their leader nodded and pried Chigusa off of him firmly but not roughly. Chigusa fought briefly to free herself and resume squeezing her little brother, but Seriyuha proved the stronger of the two.

"That's enough, he's okay," she said softly, "we should just be grateful for that."

"Well of course I am!" Chigusa screamed at Seriyuha, her face red.

"And I'd like to thank you," Seriyuha added, turning to Kirito. "You saved Razler's life, how can I ever repay you?"

Kirito waved her off. "Thanks, but don't worry about it."

"Even so," Seriyuha continued, "You must be a very strong player, and if we're going to leave this-"

"Sorry," Kirito said quietly. "I'm not interested in joining any guilds."

The briefest of frowns flickered across Seriyuha's face, but she said nothing. Shirou was surprised, having expected her to push her usual recruitment bid a little harder. Maybe she could sense somehow that Kirito was a lost cause.

"Well, I've still got a busy night, so if you'll-"

"Wait!"

Chigusa (after freeing herself from Seriyuha) rushed forward and bowed low to Kirito. Kirito briefly looked away, most likely stunned at the gesture. "Thank you for saving my little brother's life," she said. "I know you don't want anything as a reward, but what you did means the world to me. If there's ever anything I can _ever_ do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

Kirito smiled at her. "I have a little sister... so I understand how you feel."

But whether he meant anything more or planned to take Chigusa up on her offer, Kirito didn't say. He just gave a final goodbye and walked deeper into the forest, as if the encounter hadn't happened. He left just as mysteriously as he'd first appeared.

"Strange boy," Seriyuha said quietly.

"He was strong though," said Shirou. "I couldn't believe it myself."

"So," Chigusa said loudly, her normal air returning, "did you learn a lesson, shrimp?" she asked, kneeling down in front of Keh-keh.

"Chigusa," snapped Seriyuha.

Keh-keh had mostly sat quietly for the past few minutes, but she suddenly burst into tears again and grabbed Shirou's leg tight. Chigusa stood up straight, a bewildered look on her face.

"T-they'll come for me again!" cried Keh-keh. "You heard what Valel said! PoH wants me dead!"

Chigusa gave Shirou a confused look, but he shook his had and gently pulled Keh-keh's arms free from his leg. "This really isn't the place to talk about this, don't you think? Do you want to return to town with us?"

Keh-keh, her crying having subsided, nodded quietly. Shirou and Seriyuha exchanged quiet glances, and she led the way back out through the Depths. They walked back through the shadowed forest silently, Keh-keh clutching to Shirou's leg the whole way. She held just tight enough to keep from being separated, but she at least wasn't clutching to him like her life depended on it. He set his hand on her shoulder to give her some ease, but he said and did nothing else. He could tell from her shaking and occasional chokes that her self-control was teetering on a knife's edge, and she needed some quiet and time.

The forest was as silent as it had been on the way to the Depths, but Shirou was less afraid, which even he almost considered unusual. Surely he should have been a wreck, expecting the assassin or his allies to make another attempt on their lives? He'd had a near-death experience, and he wasn't even shaking... Maybe he was just in shock...

They returned to Frieven before he could manage to piece anything together, but without any second attacks coming their way. Shirou eventually decided that perhaps it was for the best.

They checked in to the Leafy Haven Inn, where Seriyuha led the way up to her room. Shirou kept his eyes on his leader, barely looking at the inn around them. It was warm and bright and seemingly safe, and that was enough for now. Once in Seriyuha's room, the siblings took seats while Keh-keh sat on the bed, sniffling and staring down at her feet.

Seriyuha knelt down in front of Keh-keh, her hands closed softly around the little girl's. "Keh-keh, would you mind telling us what happened out there? Why did that man attack you?"

"H-he's V-Valel," said Keh-keh. "He's friends with this... this scary guy named PoH. They were the ones who were killing other players. T-they..."

She paused a moment to choke out a sob. "They started off stealing from players. They'd threaten them for their items... I hate it when bullies like that pick on people so I thought I'd... I dunno, teach them a lesson. So I harassed them a few times a couple weeks back. But then Johny – one of PoH's friends – started sending me messages that they were gonna kill me, so I stopped bugging them right away -" she suddenly looked up "- but they sent Valel to kill me! They're gonna keep coming after me!"

Keh-keh slipped from the bed and onto her knees, where she began sobbing openly into her hands. Seriyuha edged away, giving the girl some space, but she didn't stand up.

"Please!" Keh-keh gasped, looking up at them, "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble, please help me! I don't wanna be alone anymore, _I can't stand it_! I want my mommy..."

Shirou bowed his head and looked at his feet, unable to bear watching Keh-keh sobbing so helplessly. How had he forgotten it? _She was a child_. She shouldn't have ever been put into this situation. Death threats weren't something...

 _No!_

"That's what we wanted to do from the start, don't you remember?" Seriyuha said softly. "Of course we'll look after you."

Shirou looked up in gratitude to her.

"I'm not your mother. I can't replace her, but I can watch out for you in her place."

"If you'll let me," she added, holding her arms up.

Keh-keh launched herself into Seriyuha's arms and began sobbing freely into her chest. Seriyuha sat quietly, holding her close. She said nothing while Keh-keh let out all her grief and fear.

Shirou echanged glances with Chigusa, and jerked his head toward the door. Chigusa nodded and the siblings quietly left, leaving Seriyuha and Keh-keh to their private moment.

Outside, they sat on the floor against opposite sides of the hall, not looking at one another. Silence took hold for nearly a minute, until Chigusa finally spoke, "She's pretty good with kids."

"Yeah," mumbled Shirou.

"All this time I was starting to think she wouldn't do anything if it wasn't pragmatic, but after that..." Chigusa made a sound. "I guess she's got more of a heart than she lets on."

"A kid crying like that would move anyone," said Shirou.

"I wonder what happens next?" asked Chigusa.

"I guess we have to dodge a cabal of crazed killers chasing us for the rest of our days..."

"Well, it _was_ getting pretty boring around here."

Despite himself, Shirou grinned at the floor.

They spent a few minutes like that, sitting across from one another and saying nothing. Shirou almost didn't want to _think_ about what might happen next. He didn't regret saving Keh-keh, but he _had_ made things a lot more dangerous for them. Would they be so lucky the next time they were cornered by the killers? He shook his head.

Before long, Seriyuha stepped back out into the hallway and found them. "Thank you. You two can come back inside now if you like."

Quietly, the siblings stood and followed Seriyuha back into her room, where they found Keh-keh standing in front of them. She had stopped crying, but was staring at her feet, completely red-faced and with puffy eyes.

"I offered Keh-keh a place with us," said Seriyuha, "but I thought you two deserved a say in this."

"There's no way I could turned her away and live with myself now," Chigusa said instantly.

"I made my choice back in the forest," said Shirou. There was no doubt these killers would be coming after him too, whether or not Keh-keh was with them.

"Then it's settled," said Seriyuha. Turning to Keh-keh, she said, "it sounds like we're going to be working together for a while, would you like to say anything?"

Keh-keh "mhm'ed" and nodded, stepping forward. "Thank you for letting me coming with you after everything I've done. I promise not to cause any more trouble for you."

"Feel free to cause trouble for our enemies, though," Chigusa said, smiling at her.

Keh-keh giggled and instantly said, "Okay!" Then, with a shrill gasp, she opened her inventory. After going through a few windows, she produced a medium-sized bag of cor, which she practically pushed into Shirou's hands. "Please take this! It's to make up for stealing that giant white spider from you!"

The siblings exchanged glances, the bag feeling heavy in Shirou's arms. He almost didn't want to see how much money they'd been given.

"You don't need to worry about that, dear," said Seriyuha. "We mostly share our cor and items anyways."

"Oh yeah!" Keh-keh continued, producing a knife - Lyle's side-arm. "Please give this back to Lyle too! I only wanted to bug him a little, you saw how he goes around going, 'Oh I'm the lord of swords, aren't I cool?" right?"

Shirou screwed himself up in disbelief; Keh-keh had seen fit to attribute an exaggerated - and not to mention inaccurate - British accent to Lyle.

"I can't stand people like that," she continued, "so I wanted to teach him a lesson, that's all!"

Seriyuha frowned at her. "You're right that he's a braggart, but even so if _anybody's_ going to give that back to him it'll be-"

"Oh, that's it!" gasped Shirou.

Everyone rounded on him, confused. Why hadn't he thought about it? He should have realized how strange it was that the killer had tracked them!

"Lyle must have told this PoH where to find you, Keh-keh!"

Seriyuha closed her eyes and looked away, and both Chigusa and Keh-keh gaped at him.

"W-what!? Just because I took his knife?"

Chigusa shook her head, and leaned in closer. "He wouldn't really do that, would he?" she asked, her expression grave. "Razler, what makes you so sure?"

"I saw him heading toward the seedy part of this town just as we were leaving," Shirou explained breathlessly, "remember how he said he'd 'take things into his own hands'? He probably decided to get a message off to those killers!"

"Razler, you're jumping to a _lot_ of conclusions without evidence," Seriyuha said firmly.

Grimacing, Shirou bowed his head. She wasn't _wrong_ , but he felt completely sure in his logic.

"He might know something we can use though," said Chigusa, "he made it sound like he knows a lot about the 'underworld' here in Aincrad."

Keh-keh gave a gasp and nodded exuberantly. "He hangs out a lot around the parts of towns where thieves and trolls do! That's how I knew about him! He'd talk himself up to get hired on by other players for jobs!"

"There's mercenaries in this game?" asked Shirou.

Ignoring Shirou, Chigusa turned to Seriyuha. "Then confronting him might still be useful. We have to do _something._ Those people are going to come after us now."

There was a delay for several seconds in which Seriyuha simply stared at the floor. Shirou watched, unsure what decision she would make. Was she worried about the risks of exposing them to Lyle now that they had a group of mad killers after them? But finally she nodded, though she frowned as she did so.

"You're right. We can't keep our distance without some information on them."

Sighing, she began to pace the room, her arms crossed and her eyes on the floor. "This is already dangerous enough, so if we're going to speak to Lyle now it _needs_ to be on our terms."

Chigusa, her gaze following Seriyuha unerringly, said, "So we should probably corner him at his place or something."

"We don't even know where he's staying though," said Shirou.

Chigusa shrugged. "Then we just follow-"

Keh-keh was on her feet in an instant, bouncing on her heels in front of Chigusa. "I can do that!" she cried. "This sort of thing is right up my alley, I'll just hang out on the village bottom, wait for him to show, and then follow him back to his place, easy-peasy!"

Seriyuha turned to her, smiling suddenly, and patted her on the head. "Take it easy, you've convinced me. First thing in the morning you can get to work and then we'll confront Lyle."

Keh-keh looked up at her curiously, and asked, "but why not tonight? There's no telling how long he might be out tomorrow."

"I think you've had enough excitement for one night, don't you?"

"Oh," Keh-keh muttered, frowning. "Yeah." She glanced toward the window - Shirou suspected without meaning to - and shuddered. "Y-yeah that's - I'm..." She looked down at her feet, as if determined to keep her gaze on them. "I don't really... wanna go back out there..."

"I think you could do with some sleep right now," said Seriyuha. She suddenly looked pointedly at Shirou. "We _all_ could."

"That sounds good to me," Chigusa said as she stood up and stretched. "This night has been messy enough already. Did you get me and Shi - Razler a room?"

"Yeah, it's next door, here's the key," Seriyuha said, offering Chigusa a largish brass key.

"Thanks, nigh-"

"Can I sleep with you guys?"

Keh-keh, her hands behind her back and her eyes on the floor, was tapping her feet. "I actually have my own room in town but-"

"Sure thing, sweety," said Seriyuha, "I've got another bed-"

"No, I-I mean with them," Keh-keh pressed, her cheeks a faint red. "With Razler and Hinoka, I mean."

"Oh," said Seriyuha. Her eyes darted to Shirou for just a moment, but she smiled and nodded. "Just don't stay up too late!"

Without further adieu, Chigusa and Shirou got up and made for the door, leaving Keh-keh to nod to Seriyuha and thank her once again for everything she'd done. Seriyuha brushed aside Keh-keh's thanks, but called for Shirou to wait up. Keh-keh passed him on her way to the door, her pace hurried and her eyes on her feet, and she and Chigusa were soon gone, leaving Shirou alone with Seriyuha.

Almost immediately she pointed toward the second bed in the room, and then sat down on her own. Feeling that she wasn't going to let him off the hook easily, he sat down as she wanted, though he kept his gaze on his hands in his lap.

"Razler, Keh-keh filled me in on everything that happened back in the forest," said Seriyuha.

"Will she be okay?" he asked. He hadn't had long to think about it yet - the night had been too confusing for that - but the sort of thing Keh-keh had been through could easily traumatize her, especially at her age.

"I really hope so," Seriyuha said quietly. "We need to be there for her over the next few days so she feels secure. It's _horrible_ that a girl her age ended up trapped in this world without any friends or guardians to watch over her. Being with a group of older players should do her some good, but only once she feels more secure with us."

Shirou nodded, his hands gripped tight together. He wouldn't have been able to make it without Seriyuha and his older sister, and Keh-keh was both younger and had gone for far longer on her own.

"Also," said Seriyuha, "what you did at the forest was _incredibly_ brave. Keh-keh barely even mentioned Kirito when she told me what happened; _you_ were her savior tonight - to her."

His face flushed, he looked up, and saw her smiling. "I'd be filled with pride if you were my son - though probably also scared out of my wits. How do you feel?"

Frowning, her looks back at his feet. "Not sure," he muttered. "I needed saving myself, and Chigusa probably won't trust me to be by myself for months."

Seriyuha laughed lightly. "I'll talk to her about that later. But please let me or your sister know if you're having a hard time with anything," she added firmly. "I'm honestly amazed you're not panicking yourself."

"Me too... I'll be careful, don't worry," Shirou said, looking up to meet her gaze.

Seriyuha was silent for a moment, doubtlessly examining him, but then she stood. "Well, you should probably head off to your room now. I told Keh-keh that she needs to thank you again for what you did."

"You didn't have to do that," Shirou said as he began for the door.

"Oh yes I did, that girl needs to learn a thing or two about respect."

Shirou found one of the inn rooms a few doors down the hall already open, and inside were Chigusa and Keh-keh. Both were seated at opposite ends of the same bed and talking as he came in, but they quickly took notice of and greeted him. Chigusa excused herself right away, a big smile on her face, and she stepped out into the hallway. Shutting the door behind him, Shirou turned to see Keh-keh standing before him, her hands folded over her lap.

Well, Seriyuha _did_ warn him...

"Uhm," Keh-keh began, her cheeks red and her eyes constantly darting from her feet up to him, "thank you so much for everything you did for me, Razler. I-I, I hadn't done anything to deserve you saving me, but i-it - it was so brave. If it weren't for you, Valel would have killed me for sure..."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling warmly at her. "And don't say you don't deserve to be saved. _Nobody_ deserves to be abandoned."

Keh-keh's hands clenched tighter on her lap. "Mmm, y-you " - she looked up, her face beet red - "you're my hero! Thank you, Razler!"

With that she immediately turned and leaped back onto the bed, where she curled into a ball and buried her face behind her knees. Shirou walked over to his own bed and sat on the edge of it.

Well. So he was a hero now. Chigusa was never going to let him live _that_ one down.

Chigusa returned a moment later, a big goofy grin plastered on her face, but she couldn't take her eyes off her little brother. She sat back here she was, where she began trying to - without success - coax Keh-keh out of her fetal position. They went to sleep not long after that, Chigusa and Keh-keh sharing one bed and Shirou on his own in the other. Keh-keh's soft breathing soon fell into a pattern that hinted at her having fallen to sleep, but Shirou could only lie awake and stare at the ceiling. He wasn't in any shape to sleep... He had too much to think about. The events of the night kept playing in his mind.

At one point in the night - Shirou wasn't sure when - he suddenly heard the sound of sobbing. He looked around, not sure whether he was sleeping or awake.

"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay, you're all right," Chigusa said soothingly. The sobbing became muffled. "It was just a bad dream, you're safe."

Shirou rolled over and punched his pillow. PoH, Johny Black, Valel - Whoever the hell they were, they weren't going to get away with the things they'd done. He wasn't sure how he'd do it, but he swore to it. _Somehow_ , he'd make them pay for hurting Keh-keh - and the others they'd already killed.

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Shirou's back to using a sword: this was intentional on my part. He'll _eventually_ settle on a weapon he likes.

Looks like I didn't full characterize floor 8 properly. That's what I get for thinking the wiki would necessarily be right. At least I can't mis-represent the floors above 75, heh.

Funfact: usually when Chigusa slips up and calls Shirou by his real name, that's me forgetting to have her be calling him "Razler" (because of force of habit on my end. Alternating between their real and player names chapter-by-chapter is usually tough early in a chapter) at moments when she should be - usually because they're in front of other players - so I just edit her to call him the "right" thing on proof-reading but leave in the "incorrect" name-slip. In dramatic moments she's usually meant to be calling him "Shirou".

Keh-keh sure has stolen a lot of the limelight in this fanfic, so I made up for it by traumatizing her. Sounds fair! :)

The amusing thing is I just got a review from the previous chapter asking if Laughing Coffin would be involved in the fanfic. There's your answer! Except it's technically _pre_ -Laughing Coffin since they don't form formally for nearly a year from this point.

Sorry to any Samson fans out there, I'll try work in some time for our favorite role-player in the future. The "modern day" chapters are more about the canon characters since the original characters are hogging the "flashback" chapters. Once we've finished up the actual founding of the Summer Knights that should ease up a bit.

This was Kirito's first appearance in the fanfic where he wasn't dead or dying, and he lives up to his canon self by saving the life of yet another girl (and Shirou). But wait, shouldn't Keh-keh be joining his harem right about now?

Hmmm :/


	9. Magic and a miracle

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

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Happy April Fool's/Easter, everyone!

I don't have any pranks planned. I'm boring that way :(

* * *

 _Even in retrospect, I'm not sure when_ exactly _Asuna began making a name for herself. It was somewhere around the time Kayaba began forming the Knights of the Blood guild and hand-picked her to be his second that she started_ really _becoming famous, but she'd actually always been there. I remembered seeing her during some of the raids against the early bosses, even before the twenty-fifth floor, but back then she was just one of many. But somewhere along the way, she revealed herself as a young woman with an inspiring aura and a swift sword-arm._

 _In some ways she was kinda like Seriyuha, but I would say the younger woman was more of a dazzling flame compared to the older's steady but sheer ice. In all things, it seemed like Kayaba was the quiet mastermind, while Asuna was the one who appeared in public. She had a knack for stirring people, something I never really got from her guildmaster. Kayaba had obviously noticed the same. Or he thought she'd make a useful distraction. Either way._

 _One thing I_ did _know is that she wasn't even a gamer before she was trapped in SAO, which frankly stunned me. The heavens had blessed her with innate gaming skills and natural charisma._

 _There was a good reason we dared not attack the seventy-sixth floor boss without her._

* * *

Razler noted a sort of quiet energy building among his guildmates on the last day of Asuna's restriction. Nearly a full two weeks since the fateful day in which Kirito lost his life, and finally the system would allow Asuna to take to the field again.

It was about time.

Asuna's imminent return to the front lines also meant that they'd soon be fighting the boss of the labyrinth. That _was_ Seriyuha's plan, and nothing since then had suggested she was changing it. Discussions among clearers had a way of becoming quiet when the fact was brought up, and even Razler didn't like to think about it.

He confided the fact in his sister and asked her thoughts on the inevitable fight, but Hinoka quickly promised him it would be different. She reminded him then that the twenty-fifth and fiftieth floors had been just as bad as the seventy-fifth, but the difficulty always dropped again afterward - for a while, at least. She was _right_ , but Razler's stomach still tied up in knots when he considered the possibility that whatever was waiting for them would be _worse_ than The Skull Reaper. They wouldn't be able to overcome that, not without Kirito and Heathcliff.

The Summer Knights spent most of that day practicing combat as a group with Silica against field bosses. It was obvious to both siblings that she and Pina were going to be important assets against the labyrinth boss, and she needed to be ready. Seriyuha hadn't announced anything or told them to say anything, but they still took Silica aside at the start of the day and warned her that they'd soon be fighting a floor boss. She had a right not to be caught completely off-guard.

The young girl went slightly green in the face at the time, but after recovering she insisted as sternly as she could manage that she was ready to do her part. Hinoka put her and her dragon - giant or normal-sized - through their paces all that day, first as a tank, then as a support. Pina was useful for either task, but there were still things Silica wasn't used to when it came to group combat. For one, she was used to fighting by herself and working on instinct. While she was decent at working under her own steam, she wasn't quite used to looking out for others just yet. Hinoka worked her hard but not unfairly so, and Razler couldn't help but wonder if she was trying to keep Silica distracted from the inevitable fight. If that _was_ the case, he didn't mind keeping occupied helping with her.

His unease - and that of his friends - grew as the day went on, and by the time the sun began to set, nobody said much of anything that didn't pertain to Silica's drills. But by then, neither Hinoka nor Silica had much heart for them, and everyone was simply going through the motions. Then, the Summer Knights all received a private message from Seriyuha, informing everyone in the guild to come to the guild hall within an hour. The announcement hit him with a sense of inevitability. There was only one reason to call a full guild meeting...

They said their goodbyes to Silica, with Samson urging her to get some rest (and put her faith in the Lord), and then made their way back to the fifty-seventh floor. The members of the guild arrived slowly, but all were present long before Seriyuha's announced one hour had passed.

The Summer Knights were unusually quiet around the meeting table as they waited for Seriyuha to call the meeting to order; even Keh-keh was sitting silently at her spot. Seriyuha wasted no time, confirming Razler's worries almost immediately, "Asuna and I agree that we should confront the labyrinth boss tomorrow. We've been stuck on this floor for too long."

"Shouldn't she wait to rejoin the battle?" asked Samson. "She hasn't fought in two weeks, she won't be at her best."

"I agree, but Asuna insisted. I'd rather we be there if she's going to do anything reckless," said Seriyuha. Razler narrowly caught the guildmaster rolling her eyes. "We're all going to meet up at the village square on the seventy-sixth floor at nine am tomorrow. The KoB is sending word out to the smaller groups as well, so hopefully there won't be any delays."

Razler and a few others nodded, but most of the Knights were glancing at one another.

Seriyuha took a deep breath or two and frowned, before she finally sat down at her seat. "I understand that you're all nervous about tomorrow. We're heading into uncertain territory, and this is all with the hard fight against Skull Reaper still fresh in our minds. I'm not happy about the situation either."

She stood, and placing both hands on the table, leaned toward the guild, look at each of them at the same time as best she could. "But remember what we've done so far. We've cleared seventy-five of these one-hundred floors, and each of us has done it without dying. We've struggled and been challenged, and we overcame every obstacle in our way. And we'll get through this too."

Quietly, she reminded her guild, "Our only way out is through," which they echoed back somberly.

With a last reminder to take care of anything they would need before the following morning, Seriyuha called for the meeting to end. Without saying anything, Razler and Hinoka went back home.

Time seemed to flow slowly that night, and Razler spent most of it not sure whether he was awake or dreaming. It was a long experience, full of imagined things that might go wrong the following day. He was actually glad when the sun finally rose, giving him a reason to be up and about again. It was better than lying in his bed, thrashing and waiting.

He and Hinoka - and most of the guild - were among the first to gather at the village square at eight. They were quickly joined by other clearers; small guilds and single players. Razler sat against one of the platform guardrails and tried to look calm as he watched the others. Most of the players were keeping to tight huddles and speaking to one another, or pacing and rounding sources of sudden sounds. The players who came early were always the nervous ones, the ones who couldn't distract themselves from what lay ahead. Razler wasn't surprised to find that Silica had beaten him and Hinoka to the gathering spot. Very few of the players in town that morning seemed to have their own plans for the day; the top floor at any given time was almost always dominated by the clearers, and they had nowhere else to be that morning.

The KoB and the DDA always arrived for Labyrinth Raids as a group. It was probably a rule of theirs. And sure enough, a solid wave of white and red soon appeared from the teleport gate and began marching their way, the DDA having already arrived a few minutes before.

One hand on her hip, Seriyuha turned to the approaching KoB party, grinning. Razler watched her from the floor where he sat, not completely sure what she was so happy about. Maybe the sight of their matching uniforms amused her? The Summer Knights were a far cry from the pristine and (apparently) disciplined conformity of the KoB. But they also saved money on equipment cosmetics.

Asuna was naturally at the head the group. Most of the clearers looked up at her with excitement and whispered something to those closest to them. A few even cheered for her return and thanked her for coming. Asuna ignored them, her gaze focused purely on the Summer Knights - specifically, their guildmaster. Seriyuha walked out to meet her, and the two women shook hands.

"Are we ready to go?" Asuna asked immediately.

"Yes, your guild was the-"

"Perfect. Go ahead and use the Corridor Crystal. We can address the raid outside the boss' room."

Seriyuha narrowed her eyes for a moment, but she relented and pulled an indigo crystal forth from her inventory. Turning toward an empty space right behind her, she activated the crystal, calling up an indigo vortex of light and energy. Razler stared into the portal bracing himself. This was it. Asuna walked past Seriyuha and through the gateway without a word, her guild following behind her in a similar stony silence.

Seriyuha stared into the portal even after Asuna was through, her hands balled into tight fists. The clearers were all watching her, most of them quiet and motionless. The excitement that Asunua's return first generated had vanished in seconds. Hinoka shook her head but said nothing.

Asuna had essentially regressed into how she was before meeting Kirito, and her behavior was going to _destroy_ morale among the clearers. It was starting to look like they might've been better off without her.

"Well," Klein called out loudly but a little awkwardly. "Let's get this show on the road, can't let the KoB have all the fun!"

A general murmur of agreement began to spread among the clearers, and slowly they started to move again. Klein and his guild were the first to reach the indigo vortex, and he and Seriyuha exchanged a glance before Fuurinkazan moved through. At that, the rest of the clearers began to move much more quickly into the portal. Seriyuha turned to her guild and mustered them, though the Summer Knights were some of the last through. On the other side, Razler found himself once more in that damp underground cave, standing before the massive door. The KoB members were arrayed before it, Asuna standing at the center. She waited until everyone was through, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed at seemingly nothing.

Then, the moment the tide of arriving players showed signs of ebbing, she said, "We all know what we're here to do today. We have a boss to kill before we can continue on, now let's -"

"Wouldn't you like to discuss our strategy first, Asuna?" Seriyuha asked pointedly but not unkindly.

Asuna stared at her for a moment, as if confused by the question. Eventually she said, "There's not much we can do about that, we can't send scouts in anymore. We'll fight the same way we always have. We've got this."

"If I may?" Hinoka said, stepping up to the side of her guildmaster. Asuna turned to her, head tilted slightly for a moment. "Our general strategies in the past against raid bosses have been sloppy. We relied too heavily on the skill of a few players, Heathcliff and Kirito especially."

Asuna's eyes narrowed, and Hinoka took a step back. "And they're... kinda gone now. We should do things differently. We've got a ton of players here, but mostly we've just relied on dpsing bosses and switching to heal, but that's actually wasteful for our items and it's slowed us down. An actual raid strategy would work wonders if we could-"

"You were the one who led the raid against the river crocodile?" Asuna finally asked.

"Yes, that was -"

"That's fine, we'll do things your way."

Hinoka stood silent for a moment, no doubt stunned by how quickly Asuna yielded to her. After mastering herself, Hinoka briefly re-iterated her explanation of the battle formations used by the Summer Knight. This was mostly for Asuna's benefit, but a decent chunk of the raid hadn't been present at the fight against Kelenar. Once she finished, the raid assembled by where they fit best, just as they did at the head of the river. Klein again immediately joined Razler's team, and the two were exchanging pleasantries when Lyle elbowed his squad leader in the back.

"Don't look now, trouble's coming," he whispered to Razler.

Following Lyle's gaze, Razler saw Asuna approaching swiftly, a few of her knights at her back. Ordinarily Razler might have been delighted to be joined by the legendary Flash, but in her current mood Asuna was something of a wild card. Still, there as little doubt what unit she'd have joined. As he walked up to meet her, Razler hoped she wouldn't cause trouble.

"So we'll be working together!" he said to her, a forced smile on his face. "There's really nothing tricky about this, we just wait for Hinoka to give the word and we deal some damage to the boss before getting back out."

Immediately, Asuna glared, and he couldn't help but wonder just what he'd done wrong. "We spend a lot of time _waiting_?" she asked.

Razler was taken aback, not expecting the ferocity of her tone. He glanced around, as if to find some escape from his situation. The idea of damage-dealers not exposing themselves to taking damage in an MMORPG raid fight was so natural a concept to him that he wasn't sure how to explain the merits behind it. Surely it should have been obvious to Asuna as well?

Lyle stepped up to his side and said, "We're not exactly made to take damage, and these upper floor bosses hit _hard_. I mean we can use weapons to block, but a shield's better for that, right?"

Asuna glanced away and said, "If you say-" when her eyes fell on Lyle's arms. Specifically, the rapier in his right hand and the parrying knife in his left. "Y-you can-!?"

"Nah, not the way Kirito could," said Lyle. "I've been getting asked that a few times a week lately, let me tell you. I always used to wonder why Kirito gave me weird looks in raids."

"Then why're you holding two swords?"

"I know fencing in real life," Lyle said. Grinning, he briefly adopted a fencing stance for emphasis. "I don't need the system's assistance to fight."

"I see," said Asuna.

"If you want lessons sometime, I wouldn't mind helping you out."

Asuna thanked him half-heartedly and joined some of the members from her own guild, leaving Razler and Lyle to their own devices.

"She could probably do with a lesson too," Lyle muttered to himself. "Fencing is a great way to focus the mind."

Just as they had back at the river's source, Seriyuha and Hinoka stepped to the forefront of the raid once everyone had assembled with their chosen squad, and announced that they would be beginning the fight. Seriyuha tapped on the giant door with the shaft of her halberd, and it slid open smoothly and almost noiselessly.

She stepped forward and tapped her halberd on the ground, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Once we go inside, there's no turning back," she said. "Work together, and we'll force our way through."

On the opposite end of the massive door was a narrow and dark (though not long) stone passage, through which lay a great hall made from green and greenish-blue stone. The raid crossed into the passage, and began to cross through it within moments. Pillars framed the hall in pairs and foot-deep and foot-wide channels filled with flowing water criss-crossed its floor. Razler and the others peered in deeper to catch a glimpse of the floor's boss, but floor bosses were often hidden from sight while the room was unoccupied.

The front line began to move in first. Pina's huge frame took up a considerable amount of space in the hall, but she fit with room enough to stretch her wings and maneuver. The mid and then back line were close behind Seriyuha's party; any lull in player movement into the room would trigger the boss fight, sealing those already inside off from help. The front line stepped about halfway into the hall where a translucent barrier prevented further approach, leaving the rest of the raid sufficient room to enter behind them. Once inside the hall, Razler checked over his shoulder in time to see the last of the support party coming in. The doors slid closed behind them, and slammed home with a _thud_ that felt like it shot through Razler's entire body.

Then, Razler heard footsteps from the far end of the hall.

Someone, a man robed in red, had stepped out from behind one of the far pillars, a thick book in hand that he was reading from. Edgar! Razler smiled in relief at the familiar sight of the enigmatic NPC, but immediately a tumult began to build from the raid among them.

"Bastard!" cried Klein.

"So you're back to taunt us again, traitor!?" demanded one of the KoB.

They were only two of the raid members to throw threats and insults. A few of the players even tried to break through the barrier to reach Edgar, but had no luck with it. Razler stared in confusion for a moment, before he remembered that Edgar looked just as Kayaba had on the day the players were trapped in the game.

"Calm down, it's not Kayaba!" cried Seriyuha.

Lloyd yelled over the commotion, "It's a magician NPC named Ed-"

"I don't suppose you realize how difficult it was? To raise that beast from the dead?" said the figure in red.

Razler frowned. It wasn't Edgar. The voice was unfamiliar.

The man raised one hand out from under his tome and pulled down his hood, revealing his face. It wasn't Heathcliff, but it wasn't Edgar either. The man's face was harder, his expression crueler. But he refused to look at the raid, his gaze on the pages of his book.

"Kennard, the Arcane Architect."

"And then you went and _destroyed_ Skull Reaper so easily. I thought at first that I could simply watch you scurry about the castle, but you've gone too far."

The man slammed his tome shut and set it back, the walls near the end of the hall being lined with bookshelves. Standing at the center of the hall near its end, the man stared out toward the players. "Now it falls to me to put you back in your place. I am Kennard, the creator of this amazing flying arc, and the first and greatest of the Demon King's inner circle. You _children_ rail against the god of this world, and now you must be put back in your place."

"Then let's get to it already!" cried Keh-keh.

Rumbling in support of her challenge broke out among the raid, but Kennard didn't react. Of course not.

"Well," Kennard said, grinning and with his hands rising slowly. "I hope you enjoyed your tour of Castle Aincrad, now farewell!"

Razler stared, not sure what exactly Kennard was about to do. He didn't _appear_ armed, but he could be hiding anything under his cloak. Until he made the first move, there was no telling how exactly he'd attack.

"Form up," cried Seriyuha, "he's about to-"

Kennard uttered something that Razler didn't understand, and suddenly his vision blurred. It was as if heat distortions suddenly converged in a cyclone in the space between the raid and Kennard, and Razler was suddenly blown backward off his feet. Before he even knew what was happening, another player crashed on top of him. Pushing his ally off of him, Razler struggled to his feet, finding most of the raid on the ground or slowly getting back up. Completely bewildered, he looked around for what had hit them. There was no signs of damage to the hall around them, now were there any glowing lines on his or anyone's bodies that indicated damage, and yet they'd been attacked somehow. His hp had dropped just a little, though not enough to be a concern.

So the attack wasn't meant to _damage_ them, anyway. What had Kennard done!?

Razler only needed a moment to find Kennard, for he hadn't moved. But what Razler saw made his mouth drop. Kennard was floating a foot off the ground, surrounded in mid-air by glowing runic shapes that twirled and spun about him. Razler gaped, hardly believing what he was seeing, but also recognizing too readily the appropriate cliches on show before him. Kennard was a sorcerer. Magic wasn't something that existed in a true sense in SAO. Crystals came close, but their functions were purely supportive, and they were simple Kennard was doing was a step above that.

Razler had been right about Kennard; they were dealing completely with the unknown when it came to this man.

"Those who cross the Demon King _will die_!" he cursed as he raised his right hand.

"He's attacking again!" cried one of the KoB.

The front line hurriedly moved to return to their proper formation, Seriyuha and Hinoka giving them hasty orders. Meanwhile, a white runic ring formed around Kennard's wrist and began to spin as it slowed turned a shade of bright blue. The light that the ring gave off grew brighter and brighter, until it reached its zenith and gave a single flash, the ring stopping.

Then, with a burst of light, a flurry of ice suddenly manifested from it, flying right at the raid. Razler barely had time to react before the barrage struck the shields of the front line, scattering chunks of frost and cold vapor across the raid. The front line managed to deflect the first few volleys of ice shards with their shields, but Kennard kept up his assault, and the tanks were forced back. The unrelenting barrage began to knock the defenders down and away, but then Pina moved in to take the onslaught with her own body. By the time Kennard's attack finally subsided, her health had fallen a little below the half-way mark.

Razler stared. How were they even going to _approach him_ when he could do that!? And from range!?

"Reform the line," cried Seriyuha, "We have to get back in-"

"No, move forward!" cried Hinoka. "Move up and attack him at close range!

The raid just began thundering in confusion and looking at one another. Even Razler wasn't sure about this; charging right into a boss wasn't a strategy he was familiar with from his sister.

"Move forward?" thundered one of the DDA, "but we're under-"

"All players, move forward and surround Kennard!" Hinoka yelled over him.

Silica, her eyes narrowed, spurred Pina on, but Hinoka called out to her, "Silica, keep back, support unit, heal Pina quickly!"

More than a few players began to offer up complaints about moving forward without the support of their dragon, but finally Asuna ordered the raid to follow their orders.

Then everything changed; the raid finally began to move. The Summer Knights and KoB were the first to mobilize, with the others finally reacting shortly afterward. Only Pina and the support group remained at the rear, the rest moving forward without a keen heed to formation. The barrier that had cut them off from the rest of the hall had fallen with Kennard's first attack, but the hall was long and Kennard was chanting his next spell already. Razler ran amidst the mass of the raid, uncertainty clawing at him. Could they even reach Kennard with him casting spells their way?

Rune-disks had formed once again at Kennard's wrists - both of them a bright orange that time - and he uttered another threat before spreading his arms wide.

"Stop!" cried Hinoka, "Front line move forward, Mid line spread behind them!"

Kennard's spell disks suddenly turned red, and a thick stream of glowing yellow liquid shot forth from them - lava.

"MOVE FORWARD NOW, EVADE!" screamed Hinoka.

The players immediately scrambled onward once again, this time at a much more panicked pace. Razler had to avoid those around and behind him, lest he be trampled. He forced himself to focus solely on the space in front of him, and not at the flows of hellishly hot liquid shooting right toward him.

He wasn't entirely successful.

A few of the players did get knocked down in the confusion, only for those closest to them to help them back up. Guild didn't matter in that moment, they lived or died together. The lava streams sailed toward the raid in an arc, crossing around the pillars that framed the hall, and came to a crash - right where the raid had been moments before. Lava spilled onto the stone behind them, but it quickly cooled and crumbled to dust. Hinoka urged them onward regardless. With Kennard now coming near, they didn't have time to catch their breath.

They drew close to Kennard, and he began a new incantation. This one finished much more quickly than his previous two, and he soon raised his left hand.

Razler flinched, bracing himself for another magical assault, but Kennard cried, "Rise, Magic Wall!"

There was a flash of light followed by a very feint blue cylindrical shape forming around Kennard. The light quickly molded into hexagonal sections which hardened into an almost crystal-like structure before partially vanishing. The parts of the barrier that were and were not visible shifted slowly, like waves flowing across the surface of a body of water.

"Don't attack that field right away!" cried Hinoka.

The raid came within range of Kennard's barrier, the tanks still up front, with Pina and the support unit hurrying to rejoin the others from behind. Ignoring them all, Kennard began preparing his next spell.

"Test the barrier with a few attacks carefully," Hinoka said quickly, "I want to make sure it won't blowback damage taken."

The defenders began striking Kennard's field with a controlled flurry of attacks, and the barrier appeared briefly with a flash of blue light each time a blade made contact with it. Kennard continued his next spell, heedless of the attacks against his defense. There was no apparent sign of any other reaction from the barrier, and with Kennard still chanting his spell, Hinoka gave a hurried order for the front and mid-lines to attack the barrier more aggressively, with the back line being left on standby. Razler remained where he was, sword held tight and shaking in-hand as he watched Kennard and his allies. There was no telling when the barrier would fall or how long it would stay down, and if Kennard finished his next spell before they broke through...

One of the DDA members struck a heavy blow from his axe, and red light shot across the barrier where the blade met it. The red light shot across the barrier like a crack, which rapidly widened and spread. Then, the barrier fragmented into shards of blue light framed in red, like broken glass, and a white shape shot through the hole and into Kennard. Asuna, living up to her title, was rapidly plunging the point of her rapier into their enemy.

Kennard dropped to his knees under Asuna's assault, screaming in pain.

Razler was so taken aback that it took him a second or two to recover from the surprise, but Kennard roared in anger and let loose another wave of force before the young swordsman could even prepare a sword skill. The raid was scattered from Kennard, and Asuna in particular was sent flying uncontrollably. Seriyuha caught the younger girl even as she braced herself against Kennard's assault with her halberd and shield.

To Razler's surprise, Kennard's health had dropped by nearly twenty percent - far more than any Labrynth boss should lose in a single combo. Asuna was strong, but not even she could deal so much damage to a standard boss so quickly. Kennard was obviously not built to take hits. That explained the shield, at least.

"You traitors would ruin _everything_ ," spat Kennard. "You'll _suffer_ for this outrage!"

The bookcases the lined the end of the hall were suddenly thrown down, revealing passages behind them. All around the raid the water hall was opened wider, revealing a much larger circular temple of stone and water channels. Kennard ascended back into the air, his barrier reforming around him, and then he quickly flew out of the center space of the hall and into the newly-revealed areas.

Hinoka was watching Kennard while simultaneously trying to get the raid reformed. "Chase after him, don't let-"

"Soldiers of the Demon King," cried Kennard, "strike down these traitors!"

"That can't be good," muttered Klein.

"Nope," said Lyle, "sounds like-"

With a loud grinding sound, the massive stone door behind them was thrown open. Razler turned to see Splashers charging into the hall. Thankfully they weren't of the Royal variety, but there was still at least a dozen of them - and with yet more visible in the far distance.

"Yup," said Lyle.

"Hinoka, we've got Adds from behind!" he cried - just as his warning was echoed by others.

"What!?" Razler hissed at nothing as he whirled back around.

The entrance hall wasn't the only place where enemies were coming from. More splashers were approaching from the exposed portions of the hall - though in a more scattered fashion than those coming from the cavern behind. Their numbers weren't enough to completely fill the entire hall, but they'd be enough to slow the raid down as they went after Kennard. And Kennard himself was floating through the hall, preparing his next spell.

"Silica," began Hinoka, "have Pina cover the main passage behind us, Seriyuha, spread the front line around this centerpoint and help Pina so we can hold this area, Flashy, keep them healthy."

Finally, she turned to her brother. "Razler, kill that damn mage no matter what you have to do. Go with them and protect them from the Adds, Lloyd. Fight your way back here if you start to get overwhelmed."

She narrowed her eyes at him in particular. "Don't die out there."

Rapid whispering broke out among the back line; charging out ahead for an extended period was another new strategy. Well, there was a first time for everything. Razler immediately checked his squad-mates to gauge their condition. A few seemed uncertain, but most were either willing or ready.

"Yes, we get the best part!" cried Elise. The axe-woman was readier than most.

"Not sure I'd call that 'best', Elise!" said Razler. At least she was never against getting into a fight.

"At least it won't get boring!" said Klein.

Razler rolled his eyes. Now he had _two_ of them to deal with. He cast a glance at Asuna, who was trying to marshal the members of her guild who'd ended up in Razler's squad. Well, at least he had somebody to balance out Asuna's sunny disposition.

The tanks took up their defensive positions while Razler and Lloyd's teams quickly linked up with one another to discuss their strategy. They didn't have much time to prepare, but going in too recklessly was a recipe for disaster.

The first of the splashers reached the living wall of defenders just as the attack group made ready to move out. From behind, Razler could hear Pina work her magic on the splashers, but he didn't turn toward her. In the narrower confines of the entrance hallway, she would have no trouble managing the splashers. He and the mobile force remained in place for a moment, waiting while the tanks made short work of the disorderly mobs. Once a lull in the fighting presented itself, the front line parted to allow the attacking squad out of the area they were holding. Razler immediately began gunning it for Kennard, the entire force behind him and beside him. Already more splashers were spawning from the far sides of the water hall and meandering toward the players. The only thing that left them any chance in succeeding in their mission was the fact that the splashers were not approaching as a united swarm.

Kennard was floating through the hall as a leisurely pace as he prepared his next spell, and the party closed in on him quickly. But the splashers were beginning to wander into their way.

Lloyd and Razler exchanged glances, and Lloyd picked up his pace, his team likewise pulling ahead of the back line. "Mid-line, kill the splashers in the way!" he ordered.

The more heavily-geared players darted ahead to beat back the splashers. The creatures fought savagely, but the players were well-used to their tactics by then, and worked together to make short work of them. Lloyd struck one with a long jab from pole, while Samson threw one at another. Razler watched them as he ran through, his stomach twisting at the thought of leaving his comrades to fight for him. Samson happened to meet his eye, and smiled. "We'll strike these wretches down and be right behind you!"

Nodding, Razler hurried on. They had almost reached Kennard, and they still had a job to do. The mage's spell-disks were taking on a distinct tan color, but he was paying no heed to the players coming his way. Realizing where Kennard was about to attack, Razler yelled over the commotion of the ongoing fight, "Hinoka, he's going to cast a spell your way soon!"

Hinoka began issuing orders to the defenders, and Razler and his squad moved even more quickly. With his sister in Kennard's sights, Razler ran on until his virtual legs began to burn from exertion. Razler gnashed his teeth and fought through it. As they came within striking distance of Kennard, Asuna suddenly shot ahead of the group, her rapier darting in a frenzy as she struck at Kennard's shield. The rest quickly caught up with her and began rapidly hammering away at his defense with little heed to skill or strategy. They had no time for such things, at least not when any splashers were near. Razler chained one sword skill into another, determined to cut off Kennard's spell, but the mage's magic barrier was still standing by the time its master launched his next assault. Razler struggled to ignore the sounds of the front line coming under Kennard's attack, and he pushed himself harder.

He didn't even have time to make sure Hinoka hadn't been harmed - he _made_ himself believe she wasn't.

Finally the barrier shattered, and again Asuna was the first to get a strike in at Kennard. The Flash dropped the mage's health bar with a ferocious assault that dropped him to his knees.

Now!

Razler let loose one skill after another; Kennard had to die before the mage cast any more of his damn magic at his sister! But Kennard blasted them back once more, and Razler growled as he got to his feet. But the wizard was already floating through the hall again, though his health had fallen to a little over half. They would have to do this chase all over again.

Razler and the attack squad moved to cut him off before he could get very far, but a swarm of splashers suddenly appeared as if from nowhere. Bewildered, Razler looked all around, and saw the snarling, amphibious beasts everywhere in sight. Somehow they had to break through before Kennard got very far, but...!

Asuna darted in and struck one splasher down before turning and slaying another with a frenzy of jabs. Klein was with her, chopping the beasts down in a single slice of his katana. Razler and Lyle's swords flashed through the air and Elise's axehead split the splashers clean in half, but no gap in the splashers would reveal itself, until suddenly a very large figure appeared at Razler's side.

"The Lord's providence is with us still, Razler!" cried Samson.

"That's good!" Razler replied as he stabbed another Splasher. He could only assume Samson was congratulating himself on catching up.

"Catch up with the mage, we'll clear these out!" cried Lloyd.

The mid line surge in, and the two squads worked together to force open a hole in the splashers, through which the back line slipped through. Now with nothing in their way, Razler and his team resumed the hunt for the mage. Kennard hadn't gone very far, but they'd been distracted long enough that his next spell appeared to be nearing completion before the attacking unit even had time to resume the chase. This time he was staring right at them, and his spell-circles turned a deep blue. This spell was more familiar than Razler was comfortable with.

"He's going to launch more ice at us, we have to avoid it!" he cried. They didn't have anybody to tank for then, after all.

Razler tried to pick up his pace, hoping that it wouldn't come down to dodging. Avoiding and parrying physical attacks was one thing, but he'd already seen that Kennard could launch and overwhelming barrage. If they could just reach him first!

Kennard's spell was still underway when they reached him and began working on his shield. Kennard continued casting his spell as his defense weathered abuse, until finally the barrier cracked - and Kennard launched his ice flurry. Cursing at the sky, Razler held his shield before him and struggled to track every shard he could see coming his way. He managed to catch the first few projectiles, but the barrage intensified, and everything soon became a flurry of white crystals. He began to miss - one shard striking him in the shoulder, another in the gut. His hp began to drop, but there was no end of the attack in sight - until Asuna suddenly appeared.

The Flash darted between the crystals, weaving through and parrying the icy projectiles. Razler stared in amazement as the white swordswoman quickly wove a path through the assault, until she disappeared in the white cloud from whence it originated. And then, the crystals suddenly turned to vapor and scattered, the attack cut short.

Kennard was again off his feet, and again they savagely attacked him. He blasted them back again and got back up, and Razler searched for him once he was off the floor.

He didn't have far to look; Kennard hadn't moved. He was casting a new spell, one that sent all of his rune circles twirling. Then his body began to vanish in sections, until he disappeared completely from sight. He and several others blindly tried searching for him by swinging their weapons, but they hit nothing but air.

Realizing that Kennard must have teleported rather than turned invisible, Razler said, "Does anybody see any sign of-"

"Enough! It's time I put a stop to this charade!"

"Looks like we're on to the next step," said Lyle.

"Razler," Lloyd said as he and his group rejoined Razler's, "we should regroup with the others first, your team's not at their best, and we'll need a new plan"

Double-checking his hp - which had fallen almost halfway - Razler was forced to agree. If Kennard was about to start some new attack, they'd need to be at full health. The attack group quickly cut their way through the splashers that stood between them and others, and reunited with the rest of the raid at the center of the hall. The attacks on the central part of the map had died down as the mobile squad returned, with the defenders cleaning up the last of the attacking splashers. Razler scanned the hall, bewildered. Why would the adds stop spawning before the fight was over? That couldn't be good...

Hinoka turned away from managing the defense as Razler and the others returned - Razler catching a brief sigh of relief from his sister - and she quickly heard what had happened with Kennard. Hinoka called for the raid to begin scouring the hall for signs of Kennard, but the wizard's voice suddenly echoed through the arena - laughing. He appeared again at the far side of the water hall, opposite the entrance door. Hinoka ordered for the raid to charge the mage down, but beams of light suddenly rained down from above. There were dozens of them, scattered all throughout the hall, though they seemed to favor Kennard's side of it. Hinoka quickly called for the charge to slow and reform ranks, though they didn't stop moving forward. Then, the beams flashed, and swarms of splashers appeared from each one.

Just like that, they were again surrounded, with a veritable army standing between them and Kennard.

"Soldiers of the Demon King, lay down your lives to defend this castle!" cried Kennard.

The splashers emitted their fishy war cries, and began to charge. A wave of killer amphibians were fast approaching.

"Everybody, back into defensive positions!" cried Hinoka. "We have to weather this attack and find a way to get to that wizard!"

"Hinoka, the door closed behind us!" Silica cried from behind.

Confused, Razler checked the rear of the raid, and confirmed what Silica said. The door leading into the hall had slid shut again at some point while Kennard was summoning his reinforcements.

But that meant...

"Silica, move to the front! We're going to use Pina to force our way to Kennard," said Hinoka.

Silica nodded, her face screwed up in determination, and she turned Pina around back toward the front. The players in her way parted and then closed back around her.

"Silica, move forward! All other players, support Pina! Once we reach Kennard, the mid and rear lines will give him everything they've got while the others encircle him and keep the splashers at bay!" cried Hinoka.

The raid cried out in acknowledgement, and the feathery dragon began moving forward.

"You traitors will understand _real magic_ ," said Kennard.

"I don't like the sound of that," muttered Klein.

Kennard, his eyes closed and his expression deep in focus, began preparing a new spell. All of his spellcircles began rotating at high speeds while giving off ever-changing spiraling patterns of light. Waves of energy flowed off of him, scattering across the ground. Razler could well imagine that whatever was coming, they didn't want to get hit by it.

Silica stared at Kennard, her eyes wide. She wasn't going to lose her nerve, would she? But finally she shook her head, and narrowed her eyes at him. "C-c'mon, Pina, let's clear a way!" she cried.

Pina gave a deep roar that shook the hall, and began rumbling forward. The first few splashers reached her, but she scattered them with a long swipe of her claws. She stepped over the fallen creatures and moved onward, leaving her considerably smaller allies the task of cleaning up. Getting ahead of the other players, she was briefly surrounded by a larger group of the splashers, but the raid quickly caught up with her and forced the fish monsters back, allowing her to dispatch the entire group with a sweep of her tail.

As the raid moved past the relatively closed space of the center of the hall, the splashers began coming at the players from the sides. With Pina and the tanks busy clearing the worst of the monsters up front, it was left to Lloyd and his squad to defend the sides. Flashy and her unit kept very close to Razler's, Keh-keh and the other rogues helping to manage some of the splashers wherever they could.

And meanwhile, Kennard continued channeling. A few of his spellcircles had stopped spinning, and were instead hovering in place behind him while radiating pure light. That could only be the progress of whatever doomsday spell he was casting - he looked to be about a little less than half done. And with the state the raid was in, Razler could only watch until they got closer.

They pushed on, though somewhat slowly. Pina was their fastest bet at wiping out the splashers, but if she went too far ahead of the players she'd simply be surrounded, and the creatures spawned almost as quickly as the raid killed them. Razler and his team could do little but watch and kill what few splashers made it around to the rear of the raid, helpless to do much beyond await their opportunity to attack.

"We should be attacking with Pina, we won't make it in time," Asuna said during a relatively calm period for the back line.

"The front line's already doing that," said Razler.

"I mean _we_ need to be going in, we're not doing _anything_."

"If we charge ahead we'll break formation," said Lyle. "We haven't got infinite space to move around here, we'll just crowd out the tanks and Pina if we try to go in."

"Yeah," Elise said, frowning, "And Hinoka gets _pissed_ if we-"

"If we break formation we put everybody at risk," said Razler. "We all have a part to play, ours-"

"Kirito wouldn't just wait to be told he could attack!"

"Yeah, and he's _dead_ now," muttered Keh-keh.

"Knights of the Blood, move ahead!" screamed Asuna, "carve a path to Kennard and kill him!"

"We can't break formation, Asuna!" cried Razler.

But it was no use, she was already pushing through the front. Seeing their guildmaster moving ahead, the knights in white moved to join her as if awoken them from a daze. They quickly rallied near the center of the raid and then surged ahead, past Pina and into the splasher swarm. With other players in her way, Pina's forward attack was slowed.

"ASUNA, PULL BACK NOW!" Seriyuha ordered over the noise of battle.

"We have to keep in formation or we'll get overwhelmed!" cried Hinoka.

Asuna kept at her reckless charge. Whether she hadn't heard Hinoka or didn't want to listen, Razler wasn't sure. He suspect it was the latter, though.

"This is why I _hate_ teenagers," muttered Lyle. He glanced at Razler and added, "No offense."

"None taken," breathed Razler.

The raid's attack slowed to a crawl, the different formations beginning to intermix in their confusion. The DDA clustered back together as if out of reflex, and the smaller guilds began to drift to the sides. Silica gave Hinoka a desperate look. To make matters even worse, Pina was likely running low on her transformation timer, and Asuna's wreckless charge was holding her up at the worst possible time. Even Razler had no idea what he should be doing. Something had to be done, but taking charge now could just make things worse.

He looked to his sister, memories of the twenty-fifth floor coming back to him. But it was different now. She was watching everything, her expression calm. It wasn't going to be like then. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay," Hinoka began, "front line, move ahead and support Asuna's attack. Do not try to move past her. Silica, keep Pina just behind them and support them with her abilities. Leave the fighting to them. Mid line, get back together and guard our flank from the splashers!"

He frowned in disbelief. What was she talking about? Razler watched her for a moment, expecting further orders, but none were coming. Razler briefly left Klein in charge of the back line and began fighting his way over to his sister. The raid was moving around in a frenzy, getting beck to where they should be in the formation, and it took a little bit of pushing and shoving before he finally got close enough to tap her on the shoulder. She turned on him, surprised. Ordinarily distracting her this way wasn't approved of, but in this case...

"What's our plan, sis?" he asked. "You're leaving our siege dragon behind the people she's meant to be leading the way for."

"Asuna and her guild are _no longer part of this raid_ ," she said thickly but quietly. "If they can't follow orders then they're on their own."

"Some of them might die out there," he hissed at her.

She shot him a glare, and he instantly stepped back.

"Members of raids who don't follow the raid leader are a liable to the others. Asuna knows the risk. Now go back to your position."

Razler nodded and hurried away. He hadn't seen Hinoka that mad in a long, long time. He rejoined his team, re-assumed command from Klein, and watched the fight unfold before him.

By all accounts Asuna and her team made progress - at first. They avoided the problem Pina faced in being unable to clear the splashers from all sides at once, but they lacked the dragon's sheer durability. As the splashers got in lucky hits, the KoB members would have to step back, and the mass of players in white pretty quickly became a confused ball of different players calling "Switch!" to one another, with fresh players ready to fight becoming more and more of a rarity. Eventually they began to bust out the crystals, health potions working far too slowly. Switching tactics were fine against a single large enemy - it was a good way to confuse the AI - but against a swarm of small fry there'd always be a few enemies who hadn't yet assigned a dedicated targeted.

Razler watched grimly. The disorganized mess reminded him all too much of how their battles tended to go. It hadn't mattered for a long time because players like Kirito and Heathcliff could hold lines for a very long time, but now...

The raid members tried to come in around the KoB to keep them from getting overwhelmed, and with the extra help they managed to get moving again, but Kennard's last spellcircle was finally beginning to slow down.

"Silica, get ready to charge Kennard's barrier head on when I say so," said Hinoka.

"Okay!" the young dragon tamer replied.

"Front line, pull back around Pina and make ready to charge," Hinoka continued.

Seriyuha glanced toward Asuna for a moment, a troubled look on her face, but she nodded and pulled her squad away from the KoB guild.

And finally, Hinoka looked to Asuna and shook her head. "Asuna, get back in formation with the others, you're about to come under attack!"

But Asuna didn't so much as look at Hinoka, and her knights followed suit. Razler stared from the rear, helpless and frustrated by it. Why was she refusing to listen!?

"Still confused, vermin?" cried Kennard. "Perhaps this will make it all clear!"

Kennard raised his hands slowly, as if struggling against a great weight, and then suddenly extended his right hand toward the raid, all of his many spellcircles gathering along the length of his arm. Razler immediately felt the air almost drying around him, and his vision seemed to distort. And the KoB were still fighting off the splasher swarm. Why weren't they getting out of the way!? Didn't they notice the danger they were in?

But even as he thought that, he understood the problem. It was the same reason Hinoka didn't fight in those sort of large-scale battles; it was simply impractical to observe everything around you while you were focused so intently on a single task. And fighting a swarm of monsters was a very distracting thing. It was almost certainly the case that Asuna and her unit, bogged down as they were, were simply unable to check Kennard's condition. It was the very reason that Hinoka had to observe battles from out of battles.

"Get out of there, Asuna!" he screamed.

Asuna turned toward him for just a fraction of a second, before she turned back to finish off the splasher she'd been fighting. And then, _finally_ , she called for the KoB to scatter - but too late. The top half of a sphere erupted right in their midst, the edge of it clipping partially into Pina and the rest of the raid. The dragon and her allies scrambled to safety immediately, and the KoB tried to do the same, but the splashers closed in around them even more, as if signaled by Kennard's spell. Even the wounded joined in the break for freedom, but the splashers didn't give an inch. And then the light within the sphere inverted, and the players and splashers still within it seemed to freeze.

Asuna herself bad barely escaped in time - shoved out by one of her squad leaders - and could only turn and watch as the sphere seemed to solidify around the majority of her guild.

And then the sphere cracked.

The dark sphere Kennard had made broke into fragments that then dissolved, leaving nothing but a fine black grain that scattered across the hall. Standing there, still frozen, were a couple dozen players and thrice as many splashers. For one moment nothing seemed to have happened, and Razler didn't even breathe, but then every monster and player who'd been caught in the attack convulsed, and their health dropped instantly. All of the splashers died instantly. The players suffered grievous loss of hp. The ones who'd already been hurt before the attack... One by one, they shattered to pixels and scattered to dust. Six players were taken from the world in an instant.

Razler began breathing again at some point, but he could do little else but stare.

"Silica, charge now," said Hinoka.

Nothing happened.

"Silica," snapped Hinoka.

Silica gave a start, and fumbled to touch Pina by the neck. "R-right, sorry. Let's go girl!"

Oh yeah... They still had a fight to win.

Razler chanced a glance at his sister. She was staring straight on at Kennard, not looking at Asuna or the KoB.

 _Pointedly_ not looking... And shaking from head to toe.

Pina moved forward at a slow while she crossed carefully over the sprawling KoB members, but she quickly gained speed once she was clear of her allies. Kennard's deadly assault had also cleared out most of the splashers between himself and the raid, and Pina simply barrelled through what remained on her way to the mage. Bellowing a roar that shook the hall, she wedged Kennard and his barrier in between her maw, and bit down. Red light danced across the surface of the barrier, but Kennard gave no reaction to it.

"Is it just me or is that dragon _pissed_?" Lyle whispered.

Razler wasn't sure. Could Pina feel? He'd have to ask Silica later...

Hinoka gave an order for the others to join her, and Razler and his team began to move.

Razler's gazed lingered on the KoB members as he passed through them, his stomach twisting into knots. One them looked to him, and he immediately turned away. He had to focus on his enemy. It was the sorcerer that mattered most just then. Kennard's barrier held out long against Pina's abuse, but finally it shattered as it had several times that day. Kennard immediately retaliated with his blasting spell, knocking Pina aside, but the raid quickly took her place. The army of splashers began to swarm them more aggressively than ever before, and the defenders turned to hold a defensive line while Razler and the rear line moved in for the kill. With Kennard exposed right before him, Razler sliced the wizard across his midsection, his attack quickly joined by other cuts, jabs, and slices. Kennard's health dropped rapidly, until it came within pixels of emptying.

One skill into another, Razler unloaded everything he had on the wizard. He wouldn't let him get off another sell - the mage was _going to die_.

Kennard fell to his last hit points - and Razler found himself swept off his feet and engulfed in water. He flailed around, desperately searching for where the water ended, but he found himself slammed against cold, hard, stone first. He struggled to his feet, sputtering and searching every which way for Kennard. He was surrounded by other players doing the same.

What had happened?

Someone grabbed him from behind and helped him up.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"A load of water suddenly shot you guys away from the wizard," said one of the DDA members.

"What!?" Razler demanded. Looking around wildly, he saw that Kennard was on his knees, a sliver of health sustaining him. _He_ couldn't have launched that attack, so who did? "Did you see-"

Beams of light broke through the roof of the hall again, and several figures suddenly appeared in the space between the raid and Kennard. In the center of the group was a twelve-foot tall female splasher, clad in ornate armor from the waist-up and possessing a flippered tail in place of legs. She simply rested on the tail, her upper body leaning back as if with poise. Directly at her side was a another female splasher, a few feet shorter and wearing more rugged and battle-scared armor. Arrayed around them were twelve more splashers - six Splasher Royal Knights up front, and six female Splasher Sirens in back. The Sirens were new; they came dressed in robes and were female and tailed, like their giant leader. The splashers that had spawned and spread all throughout the hall had dropped to one knee, not a single one of them moving to attack.

The be-tailed Splasher was called "Merrow, the Queen Under the Deeps", and she twisted her upper body toward Kennard. "Lord Kennard, I told you to ask for our help in this. Please don't use my children as you please."

Kennard simply growled loudly and slowly got to his feet. No doubt sensing the lost opportunity, a few of the players lunged forward, but were blasted back by a translucent barrier arrayed between the raid and the splashers. Razler remained where he was, immediately recognizing the situation before him as plot development.

He just couldn't remember something like this happening in a labyrinth before.

"You take care of the traitors then, Merrow," said Kennard. "I'm returning to the top of the castle!"

Kennard wove one last and very brief spell before vanishing in a burst of spellcircles. Merrow nodded calmly, her eyes on the players before her.

"Lord Kennard has underestimated you humans for the last time, I hope," she said softly. "I'll respect your accomplishments and allow you onward, but on the next floor is where your progress ends."

She spread her arms, toward the armored splasher knight at her side, and the other, lesser splashers around her. "You will soon see the true strength of our tribe. Savor this victory."

Merrow waved her arms in a circle, and vanished in a small plume of water. One by one, and faster as the seconds passed, the rest of her tribe did the same, until the hall was free of the monsters. Razler couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were just being let go for once? But the splashers were showing no signs of returning, nor of launching sneak attacks. The hall finally fell quiet again, and congratulatory screens began flashing before everyone's eyes. The light in the hall dimmed, and a passage at the far end slid open.

"I think it's finally over," Hinoka said quietly.

All at once the players began celebrating. Some cheered among their fellows, others exchanged handshakes or even hugs, and some simply fell from their feet in exhaustion. Most of the raid tried to figure out who got the last attack bonus on Kennard, assuming it even counted given the manner in which they'd defeated him. In the middle of the celebration, Razler felt someone slap his back hard, and found Klein standing there behind him.

"That was a pretty crazy fight back there," the red swordsman said.

"Yeah, I wasn't expected to see a _wizard_ in one of these dungeons," said Razler.

"We probably haven't seen the last of him either," said Lyle.

Razler agreed, though he wasn't too concerned. At least they'd know what to expect from their next fight with Kennard.

The only players who weren't in high spirits were the members of the KoB. Razler caught sight of Asuna and her guild quietly heading on to the next floor. Concerned, he made his way over to Seriyuha, who was busy talking with some of the leaders of the DDA, and caught her attention. He silently gestured toward the retreated KoB, and Seriyuha nodded.

"Perhaps we can finish our discussion later? We have a new floor to explore," she said pleasantly to the DDA members.

The DDA members looked toward Asuna and the KoB, and agreed with her.

Seriyuha stepped out before the raid and tapped the shaft of her halberd against the stone, (eventually) bringing the attention of the raid back to her.

"Well done, everyone," she said, smiling at her allies. "We're one step closer to freedom, and we've proven we can do this without Kayaba's 'help'."

The raid cheered, and she allowed them a moment of jubilation before quieting them down once more.

"But don't forget the sacrifices of the ones who have died here. For their sake as well, we cannot give up, and we will not fail."

Some of the raid members shuffled their feet, others nodded solemnly. There was no great outcry, of grief however. Without doubt it was because... it was the KoB members who had suffered losses, and they had already left. Almost nobody who was still there had suffered a personal loss.

"For now let's put these things behind us," Seryuha continued, "we still have work to do. On to the next floor, everyone!"

Seriyuha turned toward the passage that had opened at the back of the hall, and took the first deliberate steps toward the next floor. The others followed behind her as a mass, no heed left to them for formation or order. There was no need for it any longer, after all.

As he fell in line with the rest of the party, Razler's heart thumped against his chest. _Finally_ they were going to leave the sodden seventy-sixth floor behind and move on to something new. No more trudging through that _damn_ river. It took some time for the raid to filter into the comparatively narrow doorway that lay at the end of the hall, but eventually Razler stepped into the smallish, dim stone passage, at the end of which he could see the floor stairway. After a brief period of slow forward progress, he set foot on the first jade step, and began to ascend. The top of the staircase trailed off into a bright light that consumed all that stepped into it, such that Razler could no longer see anything. Upon taking the final visible step he found himself engulfed in light, and then he felt the warmth of the sun on his face. Stepping forward, his vision cleared and he saw yellowish-white all around.

It was a beach.

A white sandy shore spread all before him, with grassy hills in the distance. The foamy blue waters were lapping at the coast, but snaking all across the surface of the ocean was a vast white architecture of some sort. Screening the sun out of his eyes with his hands, he saw that the white stone roads and buildings spread inland, to the space where he was standing. The floor's central town was made from the same material and in the same style as the buildings out over the ocean. It almost looked like a cross between a village and a temple; a city of white marble.

"So, a beach floor," said Klein.

"They're just hitting all the cliches, aren't they?" asked Keh-keh.

Grinning broadly, Razler sprinted away from the Teleport Gate to look around, and quickly realized he was surrounded by splashers. His first instinct was to draw his sword, but he noticed just as quickly that none of them were armed nor armored, and they didn't have the red marker of an enemy. It was the telltale sign of an npc. A town of splashers?

Hopefully they wouldn't be too upset about all the ones the players had killed on the floor below...

"Summer Knights!" cried Seriyuha. The guildmaster was a few meters from the base of the teleport gate and facing it. "We're heading back to the guild hall for a meeting, c'mon!"

Razler shrugged and immediately turned back to the gate. He wanted to explore the new floor, but it looked like it would have to wait. Seriyuha liked sticking to her routine.

So, once again, the Summer Knights found themselves gathered in their guild hall on the fifty-seventh floor. The trip there had been one of the quickest Razler remembered making in some time; he wanted to be done with it, not avoid what lay beyond it.

"Well, I'd like to congratulate you all on a well-fought labyrinth raid," Seriyuha began, wasting no time. She turned to Hinoka, a warm smile on her face. "I think Hinoka in particular deserves credit for her leadership after such a long time without commanding a group of that size."

The guild cheered for their strategist, and Hinoka blushed almost immediately. Smiling goofily, she managed to stammer a "thank you," before sitting down.

"It's just too bad Asuna went and Leeroyed like that," muttered Keh-keh.

"May the Lord have mercy on those poor souls," Samson said quietly. Of all the players, he was the only one who seemed unhappy.

"Did anybody see what happened to her after she left?" asked Lloyd.

Razler winced, remembering only then that there was a chance that Asuna would lapse back into depression given her recent mistake. If it happened again, it would only be harder to pull her back out of it...

"Yes," said Seriyuha, "I caught sight of her splitting the KoB into squads to explore the floor. She and her guild were leaving just as the rest of the raid made it up to the floor."

"She's just trying to distract herself. Pretend that nothing's wrong," said Lloyd.

"Maybe so, but that's better than the alternative," said Samson.

Lloyd frowned, nodding. "Good point."

"We should get started too, I wanna hit the beach!" cried Elise.

"Very good point," said Seriyuha. "We'll begin exploring the seventy-seventh floor today by splitting up into teams as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary; try to cover places other players aren't and don't do anything foolish just because we won a major victory today."

Her gaze fell on Elise. "And don't get distracted playing on the beach, either."

Elise only laughed and smiled at her guildmaster.

Thus excused, the Summer Knights got up from the table and made for the door. Razler went to join his sister first, but Seriyuha suddenly called out to them, "Hinoka, would you mind staying back for a few minutes?"

The siblings immediately turned around on Seriyuha, finding her smiling at them. They exchanged a glance, and Hinoka turned to return to her seat.

"Don't worry, Razler, you'll have your sister back before long."

Razler shrugged and continued for the door, wondering to himself just what Seriyuha wanted to discuss with Hinoka. She wasn't going to demand answers for the KoB, was she? He stood where he was for a moment, wondering whether he should argue in his sister's favor. What happened wasn't _her_ fault. But... He'd never known Seriyuha to be unfair. It was probably going to be okay.

And in any case, he hadn't seen the coast in years. He turned and left his sister to the guildmaster. She could catch up.

Meanwhile, Hinoka took a seat closer to Seriyuha as the rest of the guild slowly filtered out of the meeting room. Hinoka watched the others leave, curiosity running wild inside her. There was no doubt that Seriyuha wanted to discuss the incident with Asuna and the KoB during the raid. Hinoka glared into her lap as she remembered Asuna's open defiance. Stupid girl... getting her guildmates killed like that... If she'd only listened to the plan. It wasn't Hinoka's fault. She'd done all she could. She had to make a choice. Asuna forced her to do it.

One thing was for sure: Seriyuha wouldn't be happy about the dead players, and Hinoka would have to justify abandoning the KoB.

As the last of the Summer Knights began leaving the meeting room, Hinoka quickly prepared her retorts. Then, ThunderCavalier finally left, leaving the two alone. Seriyuha immediately turned to Hinoka and the young woman braced herself, several points in her defense ready to be given.

"Asuna told me something very unusual the other night, and I wanted to see what you'd make of it," said Seriyuha.

Hinoka stared at her for a moment, all justifications scattered like leaves before a wind storm. "O-okay," she eventually managed.

But if Hinoka thought she was confused _then_ , it was nothing compared to how she felt as Seriyuha launched into her second-hand story. By the time the tale of Yui was finally finished, Hinoka was sitting back in her chair, arms crossed.

"So," she finally said as Seriyuha fell silent,"'Yui', huh. Some people don't give up..."

"What do you mean?" asked Seriyuha.

"Well," she began, "back when I was trying to break into the game, I was looking up a lot of Kayaba's information, like from his days in education or early work. Around the time he was in university he had a huge interest in AI, except he wanted to make..."

She frowned, searching for the right words. "'Actual' Intelligence, I guess you could say. A sentient AI. He called his experimentation back then, 'Project YUI'. I forget what the acronym was meant to be."

Seriyuha stared at her, eyes wide.

"Oh, it was preposterous, of course," Hinoka said immediately. "You can't make artificial intelligence to work like human brains. Sounds like Kayaba just named one of the system AI after his old work. So Asuna happened to meet a corrupted AI that imprinted on her, and she thinks that AI is _actually sentient_ , huh?"

Seriyuha frowned. "Yes, that's about the size of it. I take it you're not convinced?"

"Oh," Hinoka gasped as she threw her hands up in front of her. "I didn't mean to suggest Asuna was _lying_ it's just - do you know the difference between us and AI?"

Seriyuha simply gave her a confused look. "They're metal?"

"Aside from the _obvious_ part," Hinoka said impatiently, "AI can _think_ , but they can't feel. Feelings defy logic, and computers run by logic. Even the most sophisticated AI in this world is bound by its programming - and whatever comes with that. Like that wizard, Kennard? His programming told him to do what he did. He can do things that line up with that - he can attack us in different ways, he could try other strategies - but he can't _ever_ decide to change sides if his programming says not to. Not unless he was corrupted, like this Yui was."

"Then how do you explain Yui's behavior? Why would an emotional support AI abandon her duty and imprint on two players?" asked Seriyuha.

"Well, like I said, she was corrupted," said Hinoka. "For some _stupid_ reason, somebody disabled her function without disabling her. Human error - happens all the time in game design. The contradiction in her programming starting corrupting it; she was probably never told how to behave if she were literally unable to perform her function."

Seriyuha continued to stare at her, and Hinoka finally blushed, uncomfortable with all the attention. "You've thought a lot about this..."

Hinoka scoffed. "It's my job."

Nodding, Seriyuha fell silent and stared at the floor. Hinoka watched her for a time, expecting more questions. Surely she hadn't held her back just to ask about some rogue AI? Finally, her patience finally gave out. "So why're you asking me about this? What does this have to do with anything?"

Sighing, Seriyuha straightened up in her chair and leaned toward Hinoka. "Are you doing okay, Chigusa?" she asked.

Hinoka flinched at the unexpected use of her given name. "If this is about the raid, we both tried everything we could to get Asuna back into formation with the others."

She paused for emphasis, and then looked Seriyuha dead-on in the eye. "We _both_ know what happened the last time we tried to save people who wouldn't follow the plan. I had to choose between the raid and Asuna's guild, and I stand by my decision. Do you disagree with me?"

"No, of course not," Seriyuha said instantly. "I trust you completely to decide our strategy, Chigusa. If you say _you_ believe in _your_ decision, then _I_ believe you made the right one."

Hinoka glanced at the floor. "It's better than no decision." _That_ wasn't a point she wanted to ever face in her life again.

"I agree," said Seriyuha. "Do you think we're likely to lose the trust of the KoB over this?"

Hinoka rolled her eyes. "Maybe," she muttered. Actually it was more likely to be "probably," especially if Asuna didn't want to cooperate with her strategies anymore. But either way, it wasn't something she could help.

Anyways, rumors were going around that a few players had left the KoB to form smaller guilds on their own - a fact she considered with some satisfaction. It wasn't so very long ago that the same had happened to the Summer Knights. The Knights of the Blood were starting to feel what a fall from glory was like, and all the faster because their founder was the maniac who'd trapped them in that world in the first place.

Served them all right.

But Seriyuha probably wouldn't be satisfied with what she'd just said... Losing the help of the KoB would be a serious problem for future labyrinth raids.

"But the results today spoke for themselves," she continued, " _nobody_ who followed the plan died today. The other players _will_ notice that."

"That's true," said Seriyuha.

"What does any of this have to do with Yui anyways?" Hinoka asked. The two subjects didn't appear the slightest bit related, but Seriyuha wouldn't have mentioned them both for no reason.

Seriyuha leaned forward over the table and tented her hands in front of her mouth, staring right into Hinoka. "Asuna's going to be a problem, the raid today made that obvious. She's back to how she was before she met Kirito, and she approached the fight as if we still had him and Heathcliff on our side."

"She's not used to them not being around," said Hinoka, "she'll realize the difference sooner or later."

"Probably, but I'd rather she do it sooner."

Hinoka leaned against the table and asked, "So, are we staging another intervention on her?"

"Yes, this time we're doing something different," said Seriyuha.

* * *

Razler spent a few pleasant hours exploring the seventy-seventh floor. He - and most of the players - chose to search the great white stone structure that sprawled along the surface of the water, realizing quickly that it stretched far further than it first looked. It even went under the water in enclosed transparent passages for long stretches. Aside from just that, it was also rather maze-like, twisting and turning and leading into dead-ends. Mapping the stone temple was surely going to be a major priority.

Splashers reprized their roll as the primary enemy of the floor, and Razler was starting to get sick of the fishy beasts. The scout tactics from the previous floor were still common, but Royal Guards were starting to come to their aid. He heard rumors from other players that the npcs back in town were saying that the splashers were more dangerous at night. Seriyuha and Hinoka would want to investigate _that_. Elise already made it quite clear that _she_ did.

At least this time they didn't have to ride a boat in and out of town.

It wasn't until nearly sundown that he finally received word from Hinoka. Instead of telling him what she'd spoken about with Seriyuha, she just asked him to return to the teleport gate. Confused, he traded goodbyes with Samson, Flashy, and Elise before making his way back to town. Hinoka was waiting for him back at the gate, and waved to him as he approached.

She was smiling; at least it didn't look like Seriyuha had given her a hard time about the KoB.

"So, didja see any cute girls in swimsuits out there?" she asked as he came into earshot.

"Elise _wanted_ to put one on but she'd lose a ton of strength without her beast skin gear," he said, grinning. "Then Samson made some weird biblical comments about controlling urges or something and she got confused."

Hinoka grinned. "Sounds like him," she said.

"So what'd Seriyuha want?"

"We've got a secret mission down on the first floor."

Razler stared. " _Oh_ ," he eventually managed. "What're we doing down _there_? Does it have something to do with the Army?"

"Sorta," Hinoka said as she stepped onto the platform. "I'll explain on the way."

Razler joined his sister on the platform, and the pair teleported all the way back down to the very bottom floor of Castle Aincrad, where they hadn't been since the day the second floor had been opened. Once he materialized and stepped off the platform, Razler stared out across the plaza, memories of that fateful day coming back. Even the dusk sky looked the same. The one difference was...

A virtual wind blew across the plaza, rustling the trees. It was the only sound he could hear.

The floor was so _empty_ now. Desolate. The crowds that once lined the plaza and main street were gone. A decent number of players stilled lived on the first floor, but most had dispersed across the castle by then. It was a far cry from the ten thousand that once stood there. It was all so _different_ then...

Hinoka tugged gently on his arm, "C'mon," she said quietly.

Razler turned and followed her. They didn't have time to get lost in memories... After a few moments he realized that they were heading toward the Black Iron Palace, and he remembered that they still had a job to do on the floor. Was that their destination? What did they need _there_?

"So Asuna and Kirito discovered a secret dungeon underneath the floor a few weeks back," Hinoka began, "that's where we're going. Seriyuha wants us to meet her, Asuna, and Keh-keh there to investigate. The dungeon probably gets bigger the further you go, but she wants to be sure."

Razler's eyes widened at the news. A secret dungeon _underneath_ the castle, huh? "We shoulda guessed there'd be a secret dungeon, that's classic RPG stuff there," he said ruefully. "I bet we'll find top-tier equipment at the back of it."

"Definitely," said Hinoka.

But where was it? How could he have not heard about a secret dungeon under the first floor after so long? And what might be down there? RPG secret dungeon design

Razler expected Hinoka to lead him _into_ the Black Iron Palace - though he wasn't sure how they'd sneak past the Army - but she actually moved around the side, to an exposed drain pipe off near the back of the castle. Razler stared at it as he approached, utterly baffled, but he soon saw that the the bars on the grille were worn and broken, easily allowing the pair to slip through. Where he expected a dank sewer, instead he found himself standing in a clean stone passage. It looked like nothing more than a standard basement level of a field castle. But then again, Hinoka wouldn't have brought him there for no reason. And Seriyuha was there too, and he quickly found Keh-keh sitting on an alcove above the entrance.

"Hey, welcome to the party!" she called down at him.

Razler noded to her, though he privately wondered why so few had been brought out to the dungeon. It was sure to be a challenge. "So what's going on?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm curious too, you said you'd tell me once Razler got here," said Keh-keh.

"Wait for that," said Seriyuha, "Asuna will be here any-"

"Actually," said Keh-keh, "I hear her footsteps already."

Seriyuha glared up at Keh-keh, but didn't have time to reprimand her as Asuna climbed through the entrance hole a moment later. Seriyuha gave her a second to take in her surroundings before she approached the younger woman, saying, "Hi, Asuna. Thanks for coming out here."

"Are you planning to lecture me about the raid?" Asuna asked, her voice thick.

Looking at her again, Razler realized her eyes were slightly sunken and devoid of feeling. He looked away from her. He'd been so occupied with the new floor and now a secret dungeon that he'd had no time to even think about the players who had died in the raid that day. Was he heartless, or was death just something he'd gotten used to?

Neither was a pleasant thought...

"Of course not," Seriyuha said quickly, "You've had a hard enough time already. How are your guildmates handling things?"

"They seem split down the middle," muttered Asuna. "Some of them are saying that the raid strategy was too timid and that your guild let us take the heat..."

She fell silent for nearly ten seconds, staring at the floor. "And some of the others are questioning my ability to fill in as the commander..."

"What, _you_ don't blame Hinoka, do you?" Keh-keh called out from above.

"I don't know what to think," Asuna said slowly.

"That's _not_ what I called you here about," Seriyuha said firmly.

Asuna sighed and looked back up at her. "Then what's going on?"

"I wanted to investigate this dungeon," said Seriyuha. "We've cleared two floors since you and Kirito were here last, we should see how much more of it is opened."

"I _don't_ want to come back here..."

Asuna, her arms crossed, looked away from Seriyuha, but Hinoka stepped up, a feeble and forced smile on her face. "We all think there's probably something valuable down here," she said, "why else would there be a dungeon in the _opposite_ direction of our final goal?"

"It'll only be for one time," said Seriyuha, "we weren't there before, so we won't know how much the dungeon has changed recently. We need your help, Asuna."

Asuna stood nearly motionless for a while, eyes closed tight. Razler just watched her, completely clueless to what was bothering her. Clearly something had happened in this dungeon - something bad. He wished that Seriyuha had chosen to tell him some more about what was going on, but he also wasn't sure he even _wanted_ to know. What could Asuna and Kirito have found down in the secret dungeon?

"Fine," she eventually said, "but why only us? Do you remember what I told you about the boss we found here?"

"Yeah, that's why we don't want to bring too many people here, actually," said Hinoka. "It's better if we keep this dungeon under wraps until we know more about it. We don't want people blundering around down here and running into high-level bosses."

"So am I here to see if other players are sneaking around?" asked Keh-keh.

"Yeah, we don't want anybody following us down here," said Seriyuha.

"This makes sense," said Asuna. "Is that why you waited until the evening?"

"Yes, we shouldn't be missed if we're only gone for a few hours," said Seriyuha.

"Then let's get this over with," said Asuna.

The woman in white quietly walked past Seriyuha and led the way through the gates of the secret dungeon, the Summer Knights falling in behind her. Razler expected something more dramatic awaiting further inside - walls lined with skulls, maybe - but the corridors of the dungeon remained smooth stone, and the enemies within weren't terribly difficult. He recognized some of them as originating from the twenty-range floors, which admittedly _would be_ incredibly deadly for the the first floor, but hadn't posed a challenge to him and the clearers for over a year.

But surely the enemies would get more dangerous further in. It wasn't unusual for RPG secret dungeons to start with weaker enemies.

"What's with this dungeon anyways? You never mentioned anything about this, Hinoka," he said.

"It didn't exist back in the beta," said Hinoka, "today was the first time _I_ heard about it."

"So how does it work?" he asked.

He looked toward Hinoka, but she shrugged and indicated toward Asuna. The Flash said nothing.

Finally, Seriyuha volunteered, "It seems that this dungeon gets longer over time, probably because of things we're doing on the floors above. The Army discovered this area first, and they've kept it secret."

Asuna flinched. Razler wanted to ask how she and Kirito came to learn about the dungeon, but he could guess from how Asuna was behaving that it wouldn't be a good would just remain a mystery for now.

They passed by many side passages along the way, which Razler often saw leading to nowhere but a wall. Perhaps these passages would open up and lead somewhere else later on? The idea of a growing dungeon was interesting, but he'd rarely heard of examples doing anything other than wasting a lot of time by forcing players to constantly re-explore them.

But then again, with enough players with nothing else to do with their time...

Asuna had also mentioned something about a dangerous boss in the dungeon... So were there super minibosses running around? Razler checked again at the low headcount of his team, and wished they'd thought to bring the entire guild along for the ride. Running into a raid boss with such a small group would get them all killed.

Luckily, they found their way without running into any particularly dangerous enemies, until they came cross a T-intersection, where Asuna suddenly stopped. She remained there just at the edge of the intersection, staring straight ahead, her whole body shaking. Razler stared at her, alarmed. What had she seen? He automatically looked toward Hinoka, only to find his sister staring solemnly at her. What was going on?

"Hey?" asked Keh-keh. "Earth to Asuna? Is there a boss ahead or something? I only see a safe room."

Seriyuha moved closer to Asuna and took hold of her left hand gently, a soft frown on her face. "Is this where...?"

"Yes," said Asuna, her head down. "Why did you bring me back here..."

Razler stared in rapt attention, feeling the oncoming of a storm. He finally began to suspect that there was more to Seriyuha's plan than there seemed.

"Is the terminal in there still working?" asked Hinoka.

"Probably. Why would it matter."

"There's a _lot_ of reasons it would matter," said Hinoka. "And I _might_ be able to restore her, you know."

Asuna gave a strangled gasp. She gaped at Hinoka for a second, her eyes wide and desperate. "H-how? You can't login from here, can you?"

Hinoka smiled at her with considerably puffing of her chest. "I _might_ be able to. How does that terminal work?"

"R-right, I'll show you where it is."

Asuna began moving - at a considerably faster clip than Razler had yet seen, toward the safe room. The party followed close behind, Razler shaking in excitement. Something was happening - if only they'd told him what was going on though!

They made it to the safe area in just a moment, with no enemies attacking on the way. Safe areas were somewhat rare locations - almost always in dungeons - where monsters would neither enter nor spawn. They were almost always characterized by bright light, and had no apparent duration.

On the other hand, the game almost seemed to play monster noises as background ambiance while a player was in a safe area, making it almost impossible to actually relax while in one.

The particular safe room they were headed toward was a simple white room with a large obsidian block standing in the middle of it. Immediately upon entering, Asuna began gesturing to the block, but Razler could only stare at it. He couldn't remember seeing something so distinctly un-computer-like in his life.

"This is it," Asuna said breathlessly.

Eyes narrowed, Hinoka approached the black and examining it closely. First she merely used her eyes, but then she began feeling it with her fingers, checking every inch of it she could. Everyone watched her quietly - even Keh-keh, but finally she just stood and stared at the block, her hand on her chin.

"I can't find anything like a power switch. How did Kirito get this thing running?"

"He didn't, Yui did," said Asuna, "it was still on when Kirito used it."

"Did Yui say how _she_ turned it on?"

Asuna's face fell. "She didn't. She just said she touched the stone when I pushed her into this room, and that restored her memory."

"Asuna, try touching her pendant to the stone," Seriyuha said instantly. "It has Yui's code, right?"

"Oh!" gasped Asuna.

With her hands fumbling, she pulled her necklace off from around her neck and set it gingerly on the stone. Blue light suddenly erupted from it, making Razler jump back. The light quickly narrowed, forming a small squares - unmistakably a keyboard. Hinoka leaned in close over it immediately, a wide grin on her face.

"Oh god, a keyboard! What a sight for sore eyes!" she squealed. She poked at one of the "keys" experimentally, and the small stone section depressed under her finger. Her grin widened, and she giggled to herself.

In the meanwhile, a semi-transparent screen - an in-game menu - appeared and began floating above the stone. Still grinning, Hinoka cracked her fingers and said, "Game time started," to herself.

A login screen - naturally requesting a username and password - was dominating the window, and Hinoka's allies closed in around her.

"What're you going to do now?" whispered Asuna. "Wouldn't Kayaba have deleted all the accounts other than his?"

"You're gonna show us some hacking now, right Sis?" asked Razler. He was smiling as well; he'd never actually seen his sister at her illicit "work" before.

"Eeyup!" said Hinoka. "Well let's give this a shot." She filled in a user name and password, and struck the enter key. A loading bar appeared briefly, followed by a screen with several sub-options; a main screen.

"Hah!" Hinoka cried, her hands on her hips, "I've _still_ got it!"

"How'd you do that!?" cried Razler.

"Woah, you got that in one try, that is _spooky_ ," said Keh-keh. She did a double take toward Hinoka, then grinned sheepishly up at her. "Uhh, I _officially_ apologize for all the pranks I pulled on you. I didn't mean any of it. Really!"

Hinoka was too busy grinning and preening at the screen to pay Keh-keh any heed, however.

"Where'd you learn his password?" asked Seriyuha.

"Automated system making attempts after I narrowed it down by figuring out some personal information of his," Hinoka said with a shrug.

"Aren't you supposed to, like," Keh-keh said, frowning, "rapid-fire type and... I dunno, go through tons of flashing windows? And maybe cybernuke them?"

"Well that works in anime, I guess," Hinoka said without taking her eyes off the screen. She began moving through various sub-sections of the main screen - though too quickly for Razler to properly follow. She was mostly focusing on system commands, but he could guess what she was searching for.

"Can you log us out from here?" he asked, heart racing.

"Probably not," she said quickly. "I'm already seeing that _this_ terminal has restricted functions. Kayaba wasn't taking any chances with somebody screwing up his plan. I won't know for sure until I've had some time to go through this system with a fine-toothed comb."

"Shouldn't _his_ login have access to everything?" asked Seriyuha.

"Depends on how he secures the system."

"What about Yui?" Asuna asked pointedly.

"Looking into that," Hinoka said as she continued looking through windows. "Kirito said he copied her code into this item before she was deleted, right?"

"Yes, he moved her into his NerveGear and as an item in the game," said Asuna.

"Wouldn't they have thrown his NerveGear away after Kirito died?" asked Keh-keh.

"They might keep them around to study," said Razler, though he privately agreed with her. At the very least, the magnetic discharge probably wreaked havoc on the NerveGear itself.

"Yes, but Yui's data and this item would also be contained in the SAO server," said Hinoka, "and since Kirito and Asuna were married, it would remain with her in their shared inventory."

Asuna's face fell, and she clenched her hand over her chest. Razler stole a glance at her before looking away. So their marriage may have saved this Yui... Razler still didn't know the full story, but he felt he was beginning to put the pieces together from what he was picking up.

Hinoka hummed pleasantly to herself for a time as she began going through windows, until she came across what Razler quickly realized to be a full list of all the items in Sword Art Online.

It stretched on and on.

He came close to gaping as Hinoka scrolled through dozens of items, realizing only then the sheer scope of all the pieces of the game world. It wasn't just consumables either; anything a player could place into their inventory was there, including many _many_ items he'd never heard of before.

"Why the hell isn't there a search option on this database though," Hinoka muttered to herself.

"They probably didn't figure anybody would do anything serious with an ingame console," said Razler. He wasn't even sure _why_ it was there to begin with. Surely a GM would just use a personal menu option to carry out any task that needed doing. His best guess was that it was an aesthetic decision - though that was still stupid.

"Aha!" cried Hinoka. Her selection had scrolled over the item, "Yui's Heart." "Jeez, Kirito," she muttered, "talk about hasty work here, he just found the 'Heart' item for Scuttle Crab pets, removed the time limit, and had it point to a copy of Yui's npc data."

"Poor Scuttle Crab owners," said Keh-keh.

"He only had a few seconds to save her, the system was deleting her!" cried Asuna.

"Not sure why it missed the copy of Yui," Hinoka said, mostly to herself. "Even if we used a Pneuma Flower on her that might not work, so I'd rather not do it that way. Anyways, the main system would probably just delete her again. He was probably planning on just storing her here in this inactive form so he could take apart her code and re-assemble her outside SAO, but since that's not her native environment that'd be a huge risk for corrupting her data."

She stepped back, arms crossed, and frowned at the window. "No, I'd better not do _that_... Let me see what I _can_ do."

Asuna nodded, and stepped back. "Whatever it takes, please save her..."

Hinoka opened her mouth, then stopped, and turned to Asuna. "I will," she said, smiling at Asuna. "I owe Kirito too much to not do this one last thing for him."

The two girls interlocked gazes for a moment, Hinoka not blinking once, and then Asuna nodded and walked quietly

Razler turned aside and sat against the wall, leaving Hinoka to her work. He stared at her, hoping that she would succeed for the two of them. He owed Kirito just as much as she did, but he couldn't do anything for his memory... If only he knew a few practical skills like his sister did.

Seriyuha sat quietly beside him, knees folded against her chest.

"Yui was their daughter," she whispered.

Razler stared at her blankly. "An AI? They adopted an AI?"

"Yes, she was a psychological program but became corrupt because she was unable to perform her duty. And then the game's central system decided she was rogue and tried to delete her."

So he'd designed an AI, and then tortured it by not letting it do its job. That was just like the capricious monster...

Razler punched the stone he sat on, glaring at nothing in particular. There really wasn't _anybody_ who was safe from Kayaba's pointless cruelty. People - AI - they were all toys for his games. He looked back up at his sister, and at Asuna, and thought he could empathize with Yui's suffering. If she was a psychological aid, that meant she had to have access to player emotions. Which meant she was left unable to do anything but watch widespread despair, despite having the power and the purpose to help.

He'd learned a lot about how painful that was... Seeing suffering and being unable to stop it...

But how would Hinoka bring Yui back without subjecting her to that again?

And just then, Hinoka suddenly said, "Okay, here goes nothing."

Asuna practically leaped from where she'd been sitting, and dashed over to Hinoka's side. "You're done!? Where's Yui!?"

Smiling softly, Hinoka handed Asuna the necklace, and set it in her hands. "Try using it now."

Asuna, her hands shaking like a leaf, opened her menu, and went through a few windows to her inventory. After some quick scrolling, she found the item she was looking for, held her breath, and pressed her index finger against the menu.

Immediately, bright light shot from the stone of the necklace. Razler cried out and covered his eyes, as did the others. After a moment he chanced a glance, and saw something dark forming in the center of that light. And then the harsh shine suddenly faded. A girl was hovering in the air in front of him, curled into a ball and suspended off the ground by an orb of soft white light. The glow slowly faded as the girl descended to the floor, where her legs dropped to shakily support her weight. Asuna just stood there, her eyes wide as saucers as the girl opened hers, blinked several times, and began to look around herself.

Razler's first impression was that the girl had a sort of ethereal air about her, from her pale skin to her dark black hair. She looked younger than even Keh-keh, though he could guess better than to brush her off as a child. She was cute, for sure, almost unnaturally so.

So this was the AI that Kirito and Asuna adopted. Hinoka stared at her, one hand over her chin. She was the only one who was wasn't staring at the girl in awe.

Asuna took a step closer, reaching out slowly toward the girl. "Y-yui, is that really you?" she whispered, her eyes moist.

Yui rounded on her, blinked, and broke into a wide smile. "Mama!"

Asuna froze, and then launched herself toward the small girl, pulling her into a tight embrace. The pair, mother and child, dropped to their knees and repeated each other's names tearily, their words slowly becoming less and less distinct. At his side, Seriyuha was watching with the widest, warmest smile he could remember ever seeing from her, tears in her eyes.

"Mama," said Yui, "I never thought I would see you again! I could feel you and Papa somehow, but I could not see or feel myself! What happened to me? I should have been deleted!"

"Papa saved you," said Asuna, "and then she -" she looked up at Hinoka, Yui following her gaze "- she brought you back."

Hinoka smiled awkwardly at the pair and raised her hand up. "Y-you're welcome!" she said.

"Thank you!" cried Yui. She flashed Hinoka a smile, then turned back to her mama. "But Mama? Where _is_ Papa?"

Razler gnashed his teeth and looked away reflexively. And the reunion was going so well, too...

It was... a while before Yui was in any condition to say or hear anything... Eventually, the small AI recovered enough to learn the details behind what had happened after her Papa's passing, by which point she'd been sat on the obsidian block.

Yui's sobs slowly gave way to a somber stare toward the ground.

"Mama, it must have been so awful," she said quietly. "I thought I could feel something wrong - I could feel your pain. Even in the state I was. I was so worried."

"Mama had a lot of help from people who care about her very much," Asuna whispered, her hands closed over the little girl's.

"Was that you?" Yui asked, looking at Hinoka.

"I was involved, but it wasn't just me," she said.

"Yeah, I stole her sword, that helped," said Keh-keh.

Yui gave her a confused look, but turned back to Hinoka. "I am different than I used to be, did you change me?"

"Yes," said Hinoka, her arms crossed, "I modified some of your parameters and removed your original function as a psychological unit so that the system wouldn't immediately recognize you as your previous self. Part of this involved some finagling in your emotion-recognition routines, otherwise you might have been corrupted again. As long as you keep your head down you shouldn't be deleted a second time."

Yui gasped, and nodded. "Thank you very much! I will run a full self-diagnostic later, but your work appears quite satisfactory for now."

Hinoka grinned. "I think I'm starting to like you."

"Oh no, she's got someone to nerd with," Razler said, though he was grinning at his sister.

Keh-keh, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, suddenly gave a gasp of recognition and leaned forward. "Hey Yui, can _you_ log us out from here? You're a system GM, right?"

"No, Miss Keh-keh," said Yui, "all sub-terminals in this world had core functions removed when the main system administrator Kayaba Akihiko re-wrote the game's code to trap all of the players inside."

"So there's nothing we can really do with any of these?" asked Hinoka.

"No, but the primary terminal located in the outside-space region accessed through Floor One-Hundred retains full functionality."

"'Outside Space'?" asked Razler.

"A region beyond the borders of this game world, ordinarily hidden from player awareness," said Yui. "They were leftover boundaries from development or used in debugging and testing. Often they are still used to hide monster spawns."

"Wouldn't they just delete them?" asked Keh-keh.

"No, not if the players can't get to them," said Hinoka. "You see that all the time in video games. Debugging areas are often left alone. Deleting them means more work."

"Yui," asked Asuna, "does this mean we could log out if we reached this terminal?"

"Most likely, Mama," said Yui.

Razler couldn't help but grin. So that was it. There was a way to escape - without fighting Kayaba. They could pull the rug right out from under him, and it all started with this little AI's knowledge of the game. Bringing Yui back had changed everything.

"Yui," said Hinoka, "would you mind sharing what you know about the floors above?"

"Hinoka, I don't want you treating Yui like a wiki," said Asuna.

"No, Mama," said Yui, "please, I do not mind. I would like to repay them for restoring me!"

The pair locked eyes, and Asuna nodded slowly. "I guess we owe them this much."

Yui leaped from the stone, and bowed to Hinoka. "I will help you however I can, but please understand that gaps in my memory exist. I apologize, but I have limits in my current state."

"That's quite all right," said Hinoka, "I'm sure you know plenty left that could help us."

Smiling, she looked up to the others. "I think we've seen enough here for now? Shall we go back?"

Her allies agreed eagerly. The party paused only to set a corridor crystal into the safe room, and then Asuna led them back to the exit of the dungeon.

The way out was so much more pleasant than the way in had been...

* * *

Remember how Hinoka said she read the game's code back in the first proper chapter? :p

Also, I've recently been improving on the first few chapters. They were shockingly low quality and quite frankly I'm disappointed you guys put up with that level of quality :C

Nah, I'm kidding. About the disappointed part, anyways.


	10. Into the Dark

The following is a non-profit fan-based creative work. Sword Art Online is owned by ASCII Media Works, Yen Press, and Reki Kawahara. Please support the official releases.

* * *

Finally back! :)

No worries, there weren't any major emergencies, it was just a super busy time for me at work. Also, I realized I'd been doing this story for several months already and I could use a break. Hope you won't hold it against me!

* * *

So uhh, to my _extreme embarrassment_ , I realized while writing this chapter that I read the year wrong on the SAO wiki when I was doing preliminary research on Laughing Coffin for chapter 7. As a result, Laughing Coffin exists in my fanfiction _an entire year earlier than they do in canon.  
_

Sorry about that one, I'm usually better than this. Since it's too late to really CHANGE that, the handwave we're going with is that this is pre-Laughing Coffin.

So yeah, Johny Black went insane in SAO in _record time_!

* * *

 _Looking back, I realize I underestimated just what Seriyuha's plan was. We ran into the people who'd later become members of the Summer Knights - Keh-keh, Samson, Lyle, Ashii - for a reason. Seriyuha didn't just want_ anybody _to form the first members of our ranks; she wanted the ones who knew the game, or could learn it. Lyle was something of a fluke at the time, but we'd have probably run into him in the Forest Depths if we didn't in town.  
_

 _And how did we run into then? Seriyuha was having Chigusa direct us to the places that a Beta Tester - or somebody who knew what they knew - would go. We weren't encountering them on accident. And it was only a matter of time until luck saw us brought together..._

* * *

At the first sign of sunlight streaming through the windows, Shirou rose from a night of slipping in and out of sleep. Valel appeared in his dreams just as he no doubt had in Keh-keh's. Finally having an excuse to get up, he turned in his bed to find Chigusa sleeping alone. Immediately bolting upward in alarm, he dashed for the hall to find Keh-keh, but his eyes fell upon a note sitting on the room's center table. He slowed. The note read, "I couldn't sleep so I went to find Lyle's place! I'll be back in a couple hours! Don't worry, I won't leave town, Seriyuha knows I left!"

 _Couldn't sleep._

Shirou grit his teeth and balled up the note. _Somehow_ , this PoH and Valel would pay for hurting Keh-keh...

As he stepped out into the corridor, he saw the door to Seriyuha's room standing open, and he glanced inside. There he found the woman, sitting on her bed and reading the player guide she'd purchased the day before. She looked up as he approached and smiled at him.

"Just in case you or your sister got the wrong idea about Keh-keh," she said.

He let himself in and sat down on one of the table chairs, and Seriyuha turned her attention back on her book. "Are you sure it's okay for her to be wandering around alone in town?" he asked.

"She'll be okay, I made her pinky swear me that she wouldn't leave town," Seriyuha said without looking up.

He rolled his eyes. "You remember who we're talking about, right?"

"You'd be surprised, children take pinky swears _very_ seriously."

He laughed, unable to himself, and Seriyuha smiled down at her manual. "She needed something to focus her mind on, and she's _desperate_ to please us so we won't get rid of her. If she asks or tries to do anything for you, let her do it unless it's dangerous. And make sure to know you appreciate her, no matter how small it was."

"I understand," said Shirou.

Seriyuha closed the guidebook and stretched. "Well, we've got some time to ourselves until she comes back, how about we get something to eat? It's been a long time since we had a slow morning."

He nodded and was on his feet before he even realized it. She was right; they usually left early and came back with the sunset. Keeping busy was part of how a player survived in SAO, and weekends held no meaning to most - them included - in that regard. They woke Chigusa on the way - which took a bit of effort - before they continued on to a town eatery. There, they ordered and ate more slowly than the norm, while the other players nearby made plans for their day.

He sat there for a while, enjoying the white noise of the chatter nearby and the wind blowing through the trees. Then he remembered that their quiet day only came because Keh-keh was out working...

But then again, she wasn't having to endure SAO's tasteless food just then, so maybe it evened out. He couldn't quite decide.

They didn't speak much while they ate, and once their plates were cleaned, they spoke even less. He knew what subject he wanted to bring up, but he also suspected he wouldn't like what he'd probably hear. Seriyuha was reading from the guide again, and Chigusa was fiddling with her long-empty plate. He tried to pretend to be watching the leaves sway above. It actually _was_ beautiful the way they flowed here and there in the wind, but...

"Do you honestly think we'll be able to keep Keh-keh safe if those killers come after her again?" Chigusa suddenly blurted out.

He flinched.

"It isn't numbers that would keep us safe," said Seriyuha. "They're going after her because she caused them problems. We just have to convince them that she - and us - aren't worth the trouble."

He stared at her. It _sounded_ good, but there were steps missing. Crucial ones. "But how do _we_ -"

"Bad news everyone!"

He jerked upright - Keh-keh was sprinting back toward them. Seriyuha pulled aside a seat at the table for her, which she leaped into with a quick "thank you."

"Lyle left this morning! He went out of town early with a couple other player-"

"Was it those killers!?" cried Chigusa.

"Would you keep it down?" hissed Seriyuha. Chigusa bowed her head, blushing.

"No, he left with those two guys we saw at the ruins back on floor two! They hired him to escort them to some ruined mansion in the north part of the forest."

He did a double-take. _Those two again_? Well, going to a ruin seemed natural for Lloyd (and Ashii, much as she was likely to grumble about it), but what were the odds they'd run into Lyle?

"Seems a bit convenient _they_ ran into him."

"Uhhh, not really," Keh-keh said slowly, her eyes darting upward. "He DOES work for cor and he was probably trying to get some money to get a new knife thing..."

Keh-keh trailed off, and Shirou turned to Chigusa. "Isn't Ashii a beta tester? Why would they need him?" he asked.

"The north side of the floor is more dangerous, remember?" she said instantly. "Most of the beta testers aren't going to head that way just yet, so they probably decided they could use the help.

"Define 'Dangerous'," said Seriyuha.

"'Killer Plants shoot pollen and sap that attract the bees and entings... and at night I hear those creatures in the lake crawl up the trees."

He glanced through the gaps of the wood plank below, as if expecting to see the lake monsters look back up at him. It wouldn't happen, not in a town, but...

"We'll be fine if we all go together!" cried Keh-keh, a wide smile on her face.

Seriyuha sighed and placed one of her hands on Keh-keh's head. "That _sounds_ good, but we don't need to be taking risks."

"She's not _wrong_ , Seriyuha," said Chigusa. "The real problem is I have no idea where this mansion would be."

Seriyuha went for her guide book, but Keh-keh immediately said, "I already checked, it's not in there. Argo said she didn't know for sure where it was either."

"Ashii must have been there herself back in the beta," muttered Chigusa. "It was getting close to over by the time we got to this floor, so it's no surprise not much word of mouth got around about it..."

Nobody said anything, and Shirou was left to stare at the table and think over this latest revelation. He'd known from the start that Chigusa's knowledge had limits, and that once they reached the tenth floor they'd be running blind from there on. He'd always had the reassurance that they hadn't gotten that far _yet_ , but it didn't even occur to him that the useful information they had would run out even before they reached floor ten.

They hadn't had much of a safety net to begin with, and it had just gotten _smaller_.

"A mansion's gotta stand out, right?" he said. It sounded dumb, he realized that, but _somebody_ needed to offer a suggestion.

"We should save searching blindly for a last resort," Seriyuha said not unkindly. "There's no telling how long they'll be gone."

"Maybe we could just wait in town for him to get back?" said Chigusa.

"No!" cried Keh-keh, "Valel's still looking for me! We gotta get some answers from Lyle!"

"The longer we wait, the more dangerous things get for us," said Seriyuha.

"Yeah, they'll need to plan their next move before they attack again," said Shirou.

Chigusa leaned back in her chair, arms folded. "I _guess_ , but that doesn't get us any closer to an answer," she said quietly.

With that, she stared off into the forest, frowning and playing idly with her hair. Shirou watched her for a possible solution to the problem, but none were coming. Looking across the table, he saw that Seriyuha was watching Chigusa too. He looked down at the table, his face burning. It wasn't fair that they were depending so much on Chigusa. She was just as trapped as they were, and she was being forced onto a pedestal. They'd grown too used to relying on her knowledge of the game, and now they were suffering for it.

And _she_ was suffering most of all...

"Hey!" Keh-keh suddenly cried, causing him to jump. " _We_ should go hire a mercenary too! Some players might have tracking skills, you know, so we just need to follow Lyle's trail!"

Seriyuha smiled at Keh-keh and patted her on the head again, earning her a beaming grin from the young girl. "If you don't mind cooperating with strangers, then I say it's a good idea."

Shirou privately agreed - nobody was offering better - and even Chigusa was watching Keh-keh with a relieved look on her face.

Still smiling, the girl leaped off of her chair and sprinted toward the lower levels of town, her older companions trailing behind her at a much less brisk pace. She'd moved so quickly that they all only had times to exchange surprised looks before they followed her. Working with a young player was going to take some getting used to. Following Keh-keh's high-speed lead, Shirou found himself once more standing in the shadowy underbelly platforms of town. While Keh-keh and Chigusa discussed how to search for the right help, he simply marveled at the fact that he was there once again, at the same place where he'd caught a glimpse of Lyle the day before.

"HEEEY, WE'RE LOOKING FOR A TRACKER!" Keh-keh suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, making him leap for a second time that morning.

Breathing heavily, he rounded on the two girls. _What was going on_?

He found Keh-keh, her chest considerably puffed out. She was grinning at Chigusa, who was red in the face.

"There we go! Now everyone knows what we want!"

"And everyone thinks we're insane! What doofus will want to help us-"

"Hey, tracking right? I'm good at that!"

Chigusa threw her hands to the sky, not even looking at the individual who'd answered them, but Shirou turned and saw young woman standing before them. She looked around his own age, but slightly taller. She'd seemed to go for a cliche berserker look: leather and fur armor that showed her to be rather built (in more ways than one).

He blushed and forced himself to look her in the eyes, but she was beaming wide at them.

"Name's Elise," she said. With that she seized him by the hand and shook it. "Monster huntress expert. What beast do you need killing out there?"

"Excuse me?" Seriyuha said gently as she stepped forward. "Not to insult Razler, but it's me you're talking to."

Elise smiled up at Seriyuha. "Wow, you're tall, Lady. How'd I miss you earlier?"

"She does stand out," said Keh-keh. "So how come you aren't wearing actual armor if you go out fighting monsters?"

Elise opened her mouth to speak, but Chigusa rapidly said, "Beast hide gear sets offer the best boosts to strength in SAO."

"Yup, she knows her stuff! Just like the player guide said!" said Elise. "I'm why I'm always eager to try hunting new monsters so I can try different hides. So c'mon, what're we killing?"

"We're not hunting for monsters, we'd like to hire you to follow after a group of players that went up north this morning," said Seriyuha.

Elise's expression instantly darkened, and her gaze strayed from Seriyuha. "Eeehhh, if you're after the Most Dangerous Game, you'd better look somewhere else. I'm not much of an assassin."

"We're not trying to _kill_ them, just _find_ them," Seriyuha said quickly.

The huntress narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "Why're you so worried about finding them? They've gotta come back to town _eventually_."

"It's because I stole this knife from him!" Keh-keh cried, Lyle's swordbreaker on full display in her hands. "I was just playing a prank on him but it went too far, and now he's trying to earn money to replace it!"

Elise looked taken aback, but Keh-keh moved up until she was only a few feet away and looked right into her eyes. "Please, I just wanna make-

The mercenary instantly broke out into a deep belly-laugh, and Shirou and Keh-keh gaped at her.

"So you're the little demon that stole 'Sword Lord's' knife? Nice, about time somebody knocked him down a peg," she said after regaining control of herself.

After a moment's recovery, Keh-keh grinned up at her, some of her older self showing through for the first time in hours.

"You know him?" asked Seriyuha.

"Yeah, he showed up at the hiring hangouts about three floors ago and it's been noisy ever since," said Elise. "But man, to steal from him? I got into some dumb stuff when I was a kid, too, but that takes the cake. If you're just trying to give him back his weapon, then why not!"

She turned to Seriyuha, arms crossed, and nodded. "So yeah, I charge three-hundred cor a day for work, but I'll wave the fee for the day if I get any cool skins. Only thing I want from you guys is to share your camp if we stay out of town overnight. Normally I charge extra for work in dangerous areas but I've been itching to go looking up north anyways, so this works out."

"If you get two skins, will you pay _us_?" asked Chigusa.

Elise winked at her and said, "Nice try."

Shirou grimaced and automatically went to check their accumulated cor. They could afford her fee for a few days, but she was still asking for a pretty penny. Renting two rooms at the inn cost less than that per day, and upkeep on their equipment and consumables was a thing. Buying a permanent home was something Chigusa sometimes talked about - and it didn't sound bad to him either - so anything that set that goal back wasn't particularly welcome.

"That's just how it is, take it or leave it," Elise said. She grinned at the quartet, her hands folded behind her head. "But I can tell you this; almost nobody wants to be the first person to explore up north. They're all waiting for the testers to go that way because everybody's saying it's super dangerous. The only mercs who'll go there now are the fearless or desperate ones."

He almost smiled. Lyle was the former, Elise the latter. He wasn't sure if she even noticed that herself.

"You've already convinced us," said Seriyuha. "Do you mind if we leave right now?"

"Not at all!" said Elise. "I was just looking for something to do. So he was going north, but what leads do you have on where Swordo might be going in particular?"

"There's only one gate leading north from town, we should start there," said Chigusa.

"Sounds good, lead the way!" said Elise.

The party ascended back out of the black market district and into the main part of town, Chigusa leading the way to the north gate. They saw only a few players on their way across the town - most were out in the field by now - but Shirou still kept kept a careful eye on their surroundings as they went. The killers might have already been watching them. He didn't see any shadows moving about in the corners of his eyes, but he noticed Keh-keh looking this way and that as well, which brought him some relief. If _she_ didn't see anything, there was probably nothing to worry about.

The gate loomed in front of them after only a few minutes. It was almost identical to the gate they'd taken (twice) the day before, as was the forest path that lay beyond it. Shirou looked out ahead, wondering how the dangers of the forest might present themselves. He didn't expect to see a marked change just beyond the town border, but his curiosity was hard to control either way.

As they arrived, Elise began looking around with a thoughtful frown on her face, Keh-keh standing right behind her. Elise would go this way or that, her hand to her chin, as she looked at the floor, Keh-keh invariably bounding right on her heels.

"So how does tracking work anyways?" Keh-keh asked after a particularly long lull in Elise's moving around.

Elise turned to her, smirking. "Aren't you a rogue-type player or something? You're trying to figure out the competition, aren't you?"

Keh-keh chuckled and puffed her chest out. Elise stared at her a moment, and then laughed.

"Well, players and enemies leave footprints behind as they go," she said. "With 'Tracking' activated you can see those footprints, up to a certain time. Monsters usually show what kind of species left the prints, but players are trickier. My tracking skill's pretty good, but I don't see Lyle's footprints anywhere. He must be leveling up his Sneaking."

"Try searching for prints left by a player called 'Professor Lloyd'," Chigusa said instantly.

"That's not Lyle's player name," said Elise.

"No but it's the name of one of the people who went with him," said said. " _His_ Sneaking skill will be rock-bottom, I guarantee."

Elise nodded and messed around with one of her skill windows, and then her face immediately lit up. "~Gotcha~!" she said.

"How'd you remember Lloyd's login name?" asked Keh-keh. "We were only with them that one time."

"I friended Lloyd and Ashii before we left them," said Chigusa.

Seriyuha frowned at her. "Then why not send them a message to get word through to Lyle?"

"You have to be really close, both in town, or actually in a party with somebody to pm them," Keh-keh said immediately.

"Right," said Chigusa, "and we'd have to be in front of Lloyd and Ashii to party them."

"Huh, sounds like a garbage system," muttered Elise.

"So you said you had a lead on Lloyd's trail?" Seriyuha said pointedly.

"Oh right," said Elise. She marched out ahead of the group, rubbing her hands together. "Follow me, everyone! And I get first crack at any weird beasts we see, remember!"

He rolled his eyes and fell in step behind Seriyuha, who was following directly behind Elise. Keh-keh and Chigusa brought up the rear, both together and behind him.

"Keh-keh, think there's any chance we can avoid being tracked out of town?" she asked.

Keh-keh frowned. "I doubt you guys have any points in Sneaking."

He frowned at nothing. The skill had never seemed too necessary. And since he usually didn't travel alone, he wouldn't get much mileage out of it anyways. They'd never had a cadre of murderers hunting them down before, after all...

"Keep an eye out behind us," he said quietly.

"I will," said Keh-keh.

Chigusa hovered nearer to the girl and knelt a bit lower. "Don't be scared. You can trust in us."

Keh-keh said nothing. Shirou didn't dare look at her; he was sure he wouldn't like the look on her face.

He forced himself to keep his eyes forward.

The forest paths - and the enemies on it - were much the same as the parts of the floor they'd explored yesterday, but Shirou soon noticed there were considerably more branches in the paths. Elise always chose her way without hesitation - but she didn't always lead the party straight north. It slowly occurred to him how ridiculous his idea of randomly searching the forest would have been. They soon came across the first of the "Killer Plants" Chigusa had promised - immobile giant plants that grew from the sides of trees and didn't seem to have any ability to move. He stared, not remembering ever seeing an immobile enemy before.

The murderous plants whipped and thrashed their petals, which were thick and looked far more leathery than anything. He was reminded of carnivorous specimens he'd seem pictures of throughout his life.

Naturally.

Another fact that caught his attention were the coiling, thrashing, tentacles that sprouted outward from the central body of the plant, easily reaching and twisting about over the very walkway they were trying to follow. Obviously that was mostly how the monster would be trying to attack them.

"Yup, this is one of those plants I was talking about," said Chigusa. "They're really good at knock-"

"Diiiiiiiiie!"

Elise was charging ahead, a broad-bladed battleaxe raised high in the air.

"-ing Leeroys around," muttered Chigusa.

Shirou and Seriyuha were the first to start running to Elise's rescue. She brought her axe down in a wild double-handed swing on the nearest tentacle, and the weapon cleaved straight through the fleshy appendage. The plant immediately stopped passively waving its feelers around in the air, and it began to writhe in obvious rage and pain.

And Elise looked up at it, laughing without an apparent care in the world. "Come and get me, ugly!"

Shirou and his leader were at Elise's side just as the tentacles began swinging her way. Seriyuha stepped forward, shield raised and ready, but Elise leaped toward the nearest tentacle and gave it a wide two-handed swing just as it came within range. Again her axe cleaved straight through the plant's sinews, sending the tentacle hurtling over the edge of the walkway and into the lake below. The plant's health dropped, but another tentacle shot forth from the creature's central mass.

"Hey, it keeps growing more of these? That's cheating!" cried Elise.

At Elise's side, Seriyuha raised her shield toward the waving tentacles. "It's health dropped," she said, "we just need to-"

One of the whip-tentacles slammed into her shield and forced her back, but the force of its swing carried it on - and around Seriyuha. The fleshy mass pinned her arms to her side, but Elise's axe swung hard on it before it could get a firm grip on the knight, and the appendage fell harmlessly around her.

"Don't worry, I gotcha!" Elise said as she swung for the next tentacle. Seriyuha said nothing.

The plant withdrew its tentacles briefly, its beak-like central body convulsing - and what seemingly puckering up.

"It's going to call killer bees to help it," said Chigusa, who'd joined the fight alongside Keh-keh. "Keh-keh and I will take care of them, you three keep the tentacles busy."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment in Elise's direction. "Though you seem to have them pretty well under control."

Elise turned and winked at her, saying, "Gotta earn my Cor!"

Chigusa turned away.

He heard something like a wet grinding noise, and turned to the plant just in time to see a thick yellow mass soar into the air. At first he thought the projectile would come back down on them, but it flew toward the canopy and slammed against another tree. The ball splattered, smearing yellow across the bark and into the air above. It didn't rain back down - it drifted and wafted in the breeze.

Pollen?

"Ladies, not to interrupt, but I think we have incoming," said Shirou.

And indeed, a thunderous buzz began to reverberate throughout the forest. The plant's tentacles gave another peaceful wave or two, and then began to writhe aggressively again.

Reprieve over.

Instead of approaching the party as one confused mass, the tentacles divided themselves by halves and swung at them from all around. Shirou turned to one side, and zeroed his attention in on the tentacle closest to him. Behind him, he could hear Elise enjoying herself profusely on the fight. Blocking hadn't worked for Seriyuha - their mercenary obviously had the right idea.

Bringing his sword back around, he waited for the tentacle to come within range and unleashed a sword skill on it. He left a deep cut - nearly severing the tentacle cleanly - and was carried by his skill past the swing. With more approaching, he quickly backed up toward his allies - but then the tentacles exploded, as did the entire plant. He stared in bewilderment for a moment until he heard Elise whooping in celebration behind him.

"Well, that was easier than I expected!" she said, beaming at the place where the plant once sat.

"Yeah, there's a reason for that," muttered Chigusa.

Keh-keh tugged at Shirou's sleeve, and pointed further in the direction they were heading. He could see at least five more of the plants scattered across the trees - though thankfully no two of them were close together. Elise stepped between the two, looking onward.

"Oh!" she gasped, "they're common enemies around here!"

"Yeah," said Chigusa, "so we-"

"This forest is great!"

Chigusa groaned - and even Seriyuha rolled her eyes.

With Elise proving impossible to disappoint, they simply went along with her. The second and onward plants went down more easily than the first, but each one managed to eat up to two or three minutes before going down. Shirou hoped they'd be replaced as common enemies soon. At first he thought his wishes had been granted when the familiar entings and began making re-appearances, but it as soon apparent that they were simply joining the plants, not replacing them.

Elise was making no effort to hide her excitement with the enemies and the north side of the forest, but Shirou's other female friends followed behind her with long faces. Keh-keh in particular was constantly checking over her shoulder, and while she didn't announce seeing anybody following them, Shirou would be relieved when the killer plants stopped slowing them down so badly.

After a while the path Elise led them on began to drift away from the others that they could see in the surrounding forest, and eventually they stopped seeing forks in the walkways altogether. That could only mean...

"Ooohhh, I think we're getting somewhere," Elise said.

He privately agreed. Hopefully this would mean a change in enemies.

A dark shape loomed in the path ahead of them. Shirou caught Keh-keh's attention and asked what it was he was seeing, and she simply replied, "Really big trees up ahead."

She was soon proven right: something close to a solid wall of trees, all standing tall and in tight proximity of each other, soon came into clear view ahead of them. The walkway made no sign of curving away from them.

"Definitely looks like an area divide is up ahead," said Chigusa. "This mansion's probably in a completely different part of the forest."

He stared ahead, eyes narrowed at the trees. "So, how do we get through those, then?" he asked.

"I don't suppose all that strength-boosting gear would let you chop those trees down, would it?" asked Keh-keh.

Elise paused for a moment, looked to the nearest tree, and then gave her axe a thoughtful look.

"I never thought of trying!"

"I was joking."

Seriyuha shook her head slowly and began walking on. "If _they_ went this way, then there's a way through," she said.

Chigusa followed directly behind her. "They wouldn't design this walkway only to have it go _nowhere_."

He looked to Elise, shrugged, and carried on. The axewoman quickly overtook the party and resumed her spot at the lead, hands folded behind her head. The walkway continued on straight without turn or fork, which naturally made it impossible to bypass enemies along the way. Along the way they fought through a half-dozen of the killer flowers, all the while the trees ahead drew closer and closer.

He'd thought they were big.

He'd underestimated them.

Even compared to the large trees around them, the ones that stood in their way were gigantic. The canopies shot above the rest of the forest, spread for miles around, and even seemed to brush against the bottom of the floor above. They definitely guarded something big; maybe even the labyrinth? They also eventually saw that a large passage of sorts was cut into the side of the tree, and the walkway was headed straight into it. It was an uneven and slightly misshapen hole, several meters high and wide, and dug a hole through into the tree. Shirou couldn't see inside clearly, but he could make out the soft glow of something bio-luminescent within.

"OOohhhh," said Elise, "spooky hole up ahead. No telling where that goes, but they definitely went that way!"

"Do you see anything inside, Keh-keh?" asked Seriyuha.

"Nothing _hiding_ ," the little girl said without hesitation. "I do see something _moving_ though. It's a ways in, so I doubt you can see yet. I can't really see what it is from here."

"Think we can kill it?" asked Elise.

"I dunno, they look pretty axe-proof."

Without missing a beat, Elise began looking through her windows. "Hang on, I probably have my starting cleaver somewhere around here."

"She was kidding," muttered Chigusa.

Elise rounded on Keh-keh, who gave the axewoman an exasperated looking. Frowning, Elise turned back around.

No other monsters lay between them and the passage into the tree, so the players picked up their pace, and stood at the mouth of the hole within moments. Now standing before it, Shirou saw that the way into the tree was framed with engravings in what he guessed was some in-game language. Lloyd probably held Ashii up to examine the writing. Shirou grinned at the idea of it.

"This way descends into the darkness," said Seriyuha.

"You can read this!?" Shirou asked, rounding on her.

"This _sign_ , yes," Seriyuha said calmly, gesturing to a plank sign attached to the bark in front of her.

Chigusa frowned and peered into the tunnel. "Sounds like it heads near the... well, 'floor' of the forest. That's probably why those lake monsters will attack us."

She shivered, and turned to Elise. "Are you _sure_ they went this way?"

"Absolutely."

For once, she spoke without mirth.

Once again, Shirou looked over the edge and into the lake below. He didn't see any way it could get much different down there, but... He couldn't see around the trees either. The tunnel tore into the massive tree and wound this way and that, the walkway blending seemlessly into it. The floor's sunlight couldn't find its way inside, but the walls of the wooden passage were lined with glowing fungi.

And then the fungi _shifted_. A mass of the mushrooms came around a bend, and began moving about in the tunnel. He couldn't make out any clear features but he could easily tell that whatever it was, it was _bulky_.

"Is it just me or are those mushrooms in there _alive_?" asked Elise.

"Of course they're alive, they're plants," said Keh-keh.

"That's not what I-"

"Standing around bickering won't get us anywhere."

Seriyuha stepped into the darkness of the tunnel - though with her halberd and shield raised and at the ready. Shirou and Elise were the first to follow her, Keh-keh and Chigusa bringing up the rear. At first he couldn't make out anything but the mushrooms surrounding them, but after a few moment of groping about in the darkness behind his leader, his eyes adjusted enough so that he could see the path around and before them.

The inside of the great tree was almost totally hollowed. What he'd taken to be tunnels were actually rope-railed walkways caved from the innards of the tree itself, with the glowing mushrooms allowed to grow freely along both the natural and man-made sides of the paths. At certain points the walkway branched off into side passages, but always it seemed to angle gently ever downward.

Chigusa was right about the location of their goal.

"I've got some torches, want me to light one?" asked Elise.

"No, we don't need them thanks to these mushrooms," Seriyuha said instantly. "Also, making more light would make us easy targets. We'd stand out like sore thumbs."

Elise nodded thoughtfully - and then her hand strayed for her axe. The large glowing mass had returned on the path ahead.

Much like the Entings, the creature - a "Myconid" - was vaguely humanoid and quite tall, but it was broader by far, as if it had the physique of a bodybuilder. It also moved with a strange and almost _fluid_ grace. The bio-luminescence of the mushrooms that made up the Myconid's body lit up only the outer portions of its frame, and did so selectively near its "head" to give it something approaching eyes and a mouth. And those "eyes" turned and glared in the direction of Shirou and the others.

Seriyuha stepped up, shield raised, while the Myconid thrashed its arms against the ground in a silent rage.

"Better watch out," said Elise, "he probably has some weird-"

The Myconid thrust its arm outward - and it immediately stretched out to Seriyuha, striking her shield with a decidedly-solid punch. Seriyuha stood her ground against the attack with ease and her health didn't even drop, but the Myconid's fungal matter splattering and adhering to the surface of the metal. And that's where it remained - and hardened, if Seriyuha's struggle to rip it free were any indication. The Myconid pulled back its other arm to strike, but Elise's axe struck through the one that was fixed to Seriyuha's shield. The broad blade sheered the fugal matter and ripped it in two, and what remained attached to Seriyuha's shield immediately collapsed into a liquid-like texture.

"Hah, I _knew_ they weren't axe-proof!" she cried.

The Myconid reared back in pain, and Shirou and Chigusa darted in to strike it.

"Wow, you're not doing well with that defense," Shirou could hear Elise saying behind him.

"Shut it," growled Seriyuha.

The Myconid's glow dimmed, and the creature's form began to collapse in on itself, and Shirou breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was easi-"

"SHIROU!"

Something hard struck him from behind, and his face struck the hard wet wood below. He lay stunned, until he heard Chigusa scuffling with something about him. Chigusa! He forced himself on his feet. After getting his hands on his shield and sword, he stood and turned to face his attacker. Chigusa's naginata was twirling this way and that as she fought with a human-sized glowing shape, a glowing shape that bore the distinct curves of a woman. But the game still called it a Myconid, and its health bar looked the same as the brute they'd been fighting. What was going on, had it trasnformed? He couldn't remember an enemy that could do that.

Chigusa swept wide with her naginata, but the Myconid leaped over the attack - and failed to come back down. There it hovered, leg poised high above its head, and it dropped, bringing the limb down on Chigusa. She raised the shaft of her naginata to block the blow but she was driven to her knees, the Myconid suddenly quite solid. Shirou ran forward, but Keh-keh darted in ahead of him and slashed at the mushroom-woman's leg with her knife. Spores and fungus were shredded into the air, and the Myconid floated back. The creature then brought its hand up to its face and thrust it out toward the women. He was immediately reminded of the act of blowing a kiss, but a thick cloud of purple vapors blew forth from the creature's "mouth". Keh-keh immediately leaped away, and Seriyuha pulled Chigusa out of the cloud's path. Elise ran past him, axe held to her side and a wide grin on her face.

The Myconid hovered in Elise's path. Remembering the creture's earlier agility, he prepared a skill. Elise swung, the mushroom creature hovered over her, and he struck it as it descended. The Myconid melted just slightly, lost its color, and shattered.

He turned to find his team smiling and congratulating him - minus Elise, who was grumbling about kill-stealing.

"That creature was a common foe in this tree?" Seriyuha asked as she brushed the dust and spores off. "That was almost as bad as those damn plants outside."

"I _told you guys_ nobody was coming up here for a reason," Elise said as she hefted her axe back over her shoulder.

"Kayaba sure had a thing for evil plants, huh?" said Keh-keh. She glanced around, probably looking for more nearby.

"Well, we _are_ in a forest," said Shirou.

"Can't he let us kill some forest elves or something?" asked Keh-keh.

He, Chigusa, and Seriyuha exchanged glances.

"We kinda sided _against_ the dark elves," said Chigusa.

"Man, you guys _suck_ ," Elise said, her smile undimmed.

After taking a moment to catch their breath, they moved on again. They made good progress for a while, until Keh-keh suddenly called for the group to stop. She gestured at the floor in the darkness, where a two-foot glow was moving about against the less-mobile mushrooms. It seemed the Myconids came in more forms than bruiser and bombshell. Seriyuha thanked Keh-keh for her observation and made a quick plan of attack against the creature, but Shirou couldn't help but notice Keh-keh watching the party's rear throughout the short briefing.

Their second Myconid was defeated more easily than the first, as was the norm. Elise (at Seriyuha's insistence) led them more slowly through the pathways that wound around the inside of the tree after that. Shirou lost all track of time as they went on, but he couldn't help but think that the air grew colder the further they went. They fought several more Myconids along the way, until at last they found a path leading back out hidden beneath a curtain of ivy.

Elise indicated that their marks had gone that way, and then planted her axe into the wood and declared they'd take a short break. Everyone else exchanged awkward glances.

"Shouldn't we make more progress before we stop?" asked Keh-keh, speaking for the rest of them.

Elise shrugged and lifted the ivy, revealing near-total darkness behind it. At first Shirou through he was looking into an underground cavern, but the faint and fleeting wisps of sunlight filtering from above revealed the truth. They were simply far _far_ below the canopy. And judging from the undulating motions he saw from the "ground", along the surface of the lake.

"Nooooot sure we wanna jump right into that," said Elise. "As far as I know mobs don't cross their territory, so the lake things probably won't wander in here."

"'Probably'?" demanded Chigusa.

"Probably."

Grumbling to herself, Chigusa sat against the side of the tree.

The party talked for a while - Elise doing more than her fair share of it - and ate, and in general rested in the semi-darkness. In the middle of it all, while Elise was telling the story of her first one-on-one fight with a giant frost bear, Keh-keh suddenly began looking through her menus. Shirou watched her out of the corner of his eye, until a window suddenly popped up in front of him.

"DO NOT REACT, we're being followed. They're trying to hide. Probably work with PoH."

Shirou's body went numb, and he had to fight his immediate instinct to grab his weapons. What the hell would they do now!? It had only been a few hours since his encounter with the assassin and already his friends had tracked them down!

Another message appeared.

"Don't panic. We're continuing on. Going back is too risky now and they'll have a harder time following us up ahead."

It was from Seriyuha. Looking up, he saw that windows were hovering in front of Chigusa and Seriyuha. Elise was watching them quietly, before a sly grin overtook her face.

"Oooohhh, sending secret messages about me behind my back, are we? You're just jealous that I killed a giant bear."

"Actually we're trying to figure out how to pay you," said Seriyuha, "I was hoping this would only take a day but now I'm not so sure."

"Oh, c'mon, after saving your butt twice you're still mad about the price?"

Seriyuha forced a smile. "You'll learn to be frugal when you get as old as me."

"Well, if you're so worried about cutting corners, then we should get moving, eh?" Elise said as she leaped to her feet and reached for her axe.

Keh-keh was the next up, and nearly at Elise's side in a second. "Yup, let's hurry on, everyone!"

"See? Even the grumpy snarky shrimp is excited!"

Shirou was a little slower to stand, his heart hammering as he expected to feel a knife in his back at any moment. Hopefully their tail would hesitate to track them into a dangerous-looking area... Or at least they'd struggle to follow them.

Hopefully...

Elise stepped through the ivy curtain, Elise and then Shirou and his lady companions following after. As he'd noticed before, the section of forest they were in now was very dark, though less so than the forest up above had been at night the day before. And the lake water was there, just below the walkway. Sloshing about, hiding who-knew-what. He remembered hearing the lake creatures slamming against the trees the night before.

His stomach lurched.

Luckily, his eyes were adjusted to darkness enough that he could easily make out the walkway from the lake water, but he still hovered near the center of the path, directly behind Elise.

"The forest underlevel," said Chigusa. "We're way below the canopy here. This is one of those areas in SAO that count as night time no matter what time of day it is. Only good thing is it doesn't get any more dangerous than it is now."

"Yeah, it's pretty dark down here, do you guys wanna light torches now or do you think we're good?" asked Elise.

"Lighting torches increases enemy aggro range against you, especially in darker areas," said Chigusa. "Since it's not too dark to see the walkway, I get the feeling torches are meant to be a trap."

"Why do you say that?" asked Seriyuha.

"Like I said, the lake enemies can aggro us and climb onto the walkway down here. If we light torches it might draw a lot of them."

"So we're _surrounded_!" Elise whispered, relish in her voice. "Well I can see the tracking footprints even without much light, so I can keep us on the right path."

"I can see in this just fine, so I'll let you guys know if anything's com-," said Keh-keh.

A loud tearing noise echoed through the lake - a few miles back south.

"-Though I can't see underwater," mumbled Keh-keh.

Shirou groaned and kept his hands ready on his sword and shield. Hopefully this stupid trek through the dark would throw off pursuit, one way or another.

Unsurprisingly given their surroundings, their progress slowed considerably - even moreso than when they'd been inside the tree. Elise or Keh-keh held the party up at nearly every noise that didn't seem to be local ambiance, and once or twice they heard something move in the water nearby and froze for nearly a minute. Nobody there wanted to fight an unknown enemy in the dark, not even Elise. It seemed even her eagerness had a limit.

Adding to their speed but also their uncertainty, there were no apparent enemies in the forest underlevel. They heard the sounds of things creeping in the darkness far away, but no Entings, wasps, or homicidal plants attacked them. Was there nothing down there but the creatures from the lake?

He was forced to consider a few SAO lore questions that he felt he was better off not thinking about.

After a few more minutes, they heard a deep _growl_ from the depths of the lake - right under them. Something splashed in the water ahead. A hand with claws that glinted in the minimal sunlight reached out of the water and onto the wooden walkway, and a large shape hauled itself quickly out of the water. It stood before them, a shadow against the deeper darkness around it, with only its claws, eyes, and teeth clearly visible. Shirou couldn't make out any specific details, aside from the fact that the creature had a moderate build and stood a little over six foot.

"Depths Demon," was what the SAO designers had chosen to call it. The creature gave a throaty roar and suddenly lunged forward, raking Elise with its claw and throwing her off her feet. Shirou caught the axewoman before she fell into the drink while Seriyuha stepped forward to face the monster. It lunged again, but its attack was driven back by her kite shield. She jabbed at the monster with her halberd but it leaped to the side. From there it lowered itself quickly back into the water, caught the walkway with one hand, and flipped itself back onto the path on Seriyuha's other side, all in a single fluid motion. Before she could turn to face it it plunged its claws into her back, but Chigusa and Keh-keh both stabbed the monster from behind before it had a chance to react.

It turned and crouched low, one claw raised behind it, and it leaped forward with a shriek. It only barely managed to catch Chigusa on the shoulder, but she was sent tumbling toward the edge of the platform, her health dropped by over half. Shirou pushed past Elise, time almost seeming to slow down as he watched his sister fall toward the water.

Desperately, he threw out his hand, barely catching Chigusa by the wrist. He immediately planted his feet on the walkway and pulled her back toward him. She landed against him with a crash that nearly threw him off his feet as well.

"T-thanks," she gasped.

"Don't mention it," he said.

Behind him, he heard the Depths Demon's death cries a moment later, and found its shattering polygons surrounded by Seriyuha, Elise, and Keh-keh. The older and younger ladies just sheathed their weapons in relief, but Elise laughed victoriously.

Shaking his head, Shirou handed Chigusa a health potion and went to collect his weapon.

"See? These creatures aren't so dangerous when you just gang up on them!"

Growling from ahead and behind. Splashing as clawed hands reached up to the walkway. Two more of the Demons were coming to fight.

"Seriyuh and Razler, split up and hold them off on either side," Chigusa said tiredly. "Everyone stay close so they can't leap between us again."

Everyone did as told.

"Oh, and Elise?"

"Yup?"

"We're implementing a Talk Jar system off your pay until we get out of here."

"Awww."

It wasn't an easy fight, but they managed to take down the additional demons together. As the dust finally settled, the team collapsed and paused to catch their breath. Shirou's health had been brought fairly low - lower than he'd remembered it getting in a long time. He was doing the worst off, but Elise and Chigusa had taken a few good blows of their own. Only Seriyuha and Keh-keh remained at near-full health, though both for opposite reasons. The injured ones helped themselves to a health potion each and spent a few minutes waiting while the healing effect ticked away. They weren't attacked again in all that time, though they heard the unmistakable sounds of large creatures swimming in the water nearby.

They were definitely doing something to avoid detection - or _not_ doing something, rather.

It must have had to do with noise. The creatures probably had strict detection parameters - it was the only thing that could justified their strength. Not daring to voice his theory out loud, he instead sent private messages to his party. Chigusa replied almost immediately, agreeing with him. Seriyuha took Elise aside and - quietly - strongly advised her to be quiet from then on. The younger woman simply nodded seriously. The demons must have gotten to _her_ as well. Shirou shuddered, but forced himself on his feet.

They moved slower than ever after that, everyone freezing at the first sign of noise nearby. Nobody dared to say a word. It was one of the most tortuous moments Shirou could remember ever since he'd gotten stuck in SAO. Every second he expected to get swarmed by the monsters they'd only managed to beat through superior numbers so far. And there was no telling how far they still had to go either...

What the hell were they _doing_ wandering around that damn lake in the first place? Surely there had to be a better way to catch up with Lyle.

He shook his head, and shut his eyes tight. Getting upset wasn't going to help... He'd done this to help Keh-keh. He had to see his decision from last night through.

He couldn't stop the shaking of his legs, but he pushed them onward just the same.

They went on like that for over an hour or two. Occasionally, their luck failed them and they were forced to fight, but they managed to pull through each time one of the Demons clawed their way onto the platform. The first time they fought he hadn't made the connection, but after the third time the Demons came up in waves, he realized that the noise of them fighting off one group of Demons would usually draw the attention of another.

The forest underlevel seemed to become more dangerous by the minute. He could only hope the dangers would ward off their pursuit.

At some point in that long, torturous slog, Keh-keh suddenly whispered, "I see a building! It might be that mansion!"

Shirou could nearly collapse from relief. Was it really possible that the trip was going to be over already?

"It's off in that direction," Keh-keh went on, pointing in the distance. Shirou wasn't sure which way exactly; he couldn't tell north from south. It didn't really matter.

"Yup, the footprints are headed that way," said Elise. "Might be right."

"Don't let your guard down," Seriyuha said sharply, though quietly.

Shirou privately agreed; dying within sight of their goal would be as terrible as it could get. Carefully, they continued on. Within a few minutes He could make out a much deeper shadow set against the darkness of the underforest. Yet again, Keh-keh's vision was top-notch. The lake began to give way to land as they went on and appeared to be coming upon an island of sorts, the walkway beginning to slant upward to meet it. Eventually, they were standing over lovely semi-dry land, the lake reduced to little more than criss-crossing streams of water flowing downhill. The mansion had been built on an island of sorts within the lake. By then, even the less-gifted members of the team could see the building set against the foliage.

It was a huge, two-winged fantasy-esque home, surrounded by the corroded and crumbling remains of a wall and inner garden. Very little remained intact but the main building itself, but even that had exposed sections in the walls, and it was almost completely covered by plant growth. What could Lloyd be interested in _here_?

He began to voice his thoughts, only for Seriyuha to quiet him.

"Save it for when we're inside. There still might be Demons lurking around."

Not wanting to push his luck, he obeyed.

The mansion's great front double-door was already standing ajar when they arrived, and team let themselves inside. Within, they found a foyer would surely have been great in some long-forgotten time, but now the signs of decay were everywhere. The tile was worn and peeling, the walls crumbling and rotting away, the left-wing stairway had collapsed completely, and a large hole had worn through the roof.

"Phew, glad to be out of that lake for a little while," Elise said loudly - the first time she'd raised her voice since the first encounter with the Depths Demons. She strode out to the center of the foyer and looked around, her hands on her hips. "Who'd wanna come out here though?"

"We're not sure, the guidebook didn't say anything about this place," said Keh-keh.

"The guy we're tracking has an interest in old ruins," said Shirou, "maybe this was the only place on this floor that qualified, who knows."

"The part that actually matters is that they're here," said Seriyuha, "and we need to find Lyle quickly."

Elise stared at her. "Why 'quickly'? There's definitely no way they left for town from here, I'd have seen their footprints."

Seriyuha looked away for a very brief moment, before turning toward the axewoman. "The sooner we get out of here the better. I want to put distance between us and this pit."

The younger woman watched her closely for a moment, a curious look on her face. Shirou fidgeted, glad that she wasn't looking at him. She had to suspect something. Could she see through Seriyuha's excuse? But a moment later she smiled and turned back toward the foyer, hands on her hips.

"Then let's not waste time. Onwar-"

"What a surprise! The Lord truly is with me today!"

 _What_.

Shirou was half-convinced that his ears were playing tricks on him, but he looked up and there was Samson, standing on a ruined balcony overlooking the foyer from the second floor. He vaulted over the guardrail and landed among them with a crash that shook the room. Shirou winced - he hadn't considered this problem. Now everyone nearby would know where they were...

"Just the guy we need for a quiet mission," muttered Keh-keh.

Samson held out his hand to Seriyuha, who took it after a moment to, Shirou presumed, process her surprise. He shook her hand vigorously; she simply came along for the ride.

"I can't say we expected to see you out here," she said.

"Me neither, the world truly is small," said Samson. "I read about this mysterious mansion in the guidebook and thought an unclaimed place such as this might be a worthy rock upon which to build my church."

Chigusa looked around, an incredulous look on her face. "It'll be hard to get converts out here..."

"I underestimated the danger, truth be told," said Samson, his tone quieting down. "My party and I - disciples to the work of the Lord - made it down here without too much trouble, but they lost faith and abandoned me on the way here."

"So your party got spooked and ran off at the first encounter with a Depths Demon, basically," said Elise.

"You are astute."

Elise crossed her hands behind her head and grinned at the large man. "I gotta be, mercenary and all. I guess you know these guys? They hired me to help them find someone."

Samson nodded at Elise, then turned to Seriyuha, arms crossed. "Obviously not me."

"Uhh yeah, they probably heard Samson making a ton of noise by the way," said Keh-keh.

"Then we aughta hurry!" said Elise. She immediately turned toward the right-side wing, the one opposite the way Samson had come, and led the party at a brisk pace.

They (Samson included, having apparently invited himself) hurried along after Lloyd's footsteps, through the rooms of the mansion. Dusty, cluttered with ruined furniture, and with the architecture crumbling all around them. Shirou couldn't help but feel like the mansion was the least church-like thing he'd ever seen in his life. Was Samson really so desperate for an empty building?

And speaking of empty...

He saw no sign of any enemies inside. The forest lake had been swarming with Depths Demons, and yet none had seen fit to crawl in? And for that matter, nothing else lived in there? But Samson dispelled his concerns immediately, reporting on slowly-respawning and weak Dust Ghouls that he'd encountered throughout the opposite wing. Presumably, Lloy, Ashii, and Lyle had cleared this wing already. The mansion was clearly not a place to grind in.

"We aughta catch up with them soon!" cried Elise, "his footsteps are going all ove - ahh!"

Elise fell forward upon reaching a doorway, something suddenly thrusting out in the path of her ankle. The moment she struck the ground, a bared blade came to rest on the back of her neck.

Shirou nearly leaped from surprise and reached for his sword and shield. Seriyuha and Chigusa readied their pole arms, and Samson assumed a combat stance.

"Okay, you slags, back off or your friend gets fried!"

"Do as they say, do as they say!" cried Elise. The axewoman wouldn't move to get up or to look behind her. Shirou could only gape at the complete reversal of character.

"Already caught up with us, eh bastards?" Seriyuha asked calmly.

 _Shit_.

Keh-keh immediately backed up against him. He could feel her shake uncontrollably against his body. He gnashed his teeth - here it was, just like the night before. How did they catch up with them so fast? Now it all came down to the moment he'd been waiting for. But... whoever was holding Elise hostage were standing on the opposite side of the wall, hidden from view.

"Shut the hell up! Back off now-"

Samson suddenly gave a roar and charged forward, elbow-first. He slammed into the ancient wall the divided their room from the next and plowed straight through it. Shirou froze for a moment, surprised at the sight of SAO's geography being broken down. Was it even possible? But then he heard the sounds of a scuffle from ahead, and Seriyuha immediately ran. Shirou followed after her, and stopped as soon as he passed through the door. Elise was scrambling to her feet and fighting Lloyd over her fallen axe, Samson was trying to put Ashii into a full nelson, and Seriyuha and Lyle were staring at one another in disbelief.

"Woah, woah, stop, STOP!" Chigusa cried as she ran in behind him.

"Let her go, Samson, she's one of the ones we're looking for!" Shirou said hurriedly.

"You're the ones who followed us here!?" Ashii demanded as Samson slowly released her and offered awkward apologies.

"Jeez, you didn't warn me we were following a trio of doofuses," muttered Elise.

"What the hell do you expect?" Lyle asked as he sheathed his rapier. "And what did you guys bring _Elise_ over here for?" Then his gaze fell on Keh-keh. "Oh great, _her_ too. What a great day."

"Don't act so big, you ass!" cried Chigusa. "How could you hire those maniacs to kill Keh-keh just 'cause she took your knife?"

"The hell are you talking about!?"

"Those killers came after her last night! You hired them out of revenge, didn't you?"

Lyle immediately went red in the face. "I don't work with those bastards, you bitch!"

"Wow, what kind of messed up ride did you guys bring me on?" asked Elise.

"Everyone be quiet!" Seriyuha suddenly thundered. Everybody fell silent slowly, and looked at her. She paused a moment to catch her breath and compose herself. "There's too many people all talking at once," she finally said. "Keh-keh, you know what to do."

"R-right."

The little girl hurried over to Lyle and bowed, his swordbreaker held out before him in both her hands. "I'm so sorry for stealing your knife, Lyle! I was just having some fun, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble!"

"Well next time -" he frowned and took a deep breath. "Next time find a more harmless prank, would you?"

He took the weapon out of her hands and returned it to his inventory, where it appeared at his waist. "But thank you for finally returning it to me. Now what was all this about those player-killers?" he asked Chigusa.

"There's player-killers involved in this too!?" asked Elise. She gave Seriyuha a horrified look and demanded, "Why'd you bring me along then!?"

"We were trying to avoid them out here," said Chigusa, "we hoped Lyle might know something that would help us."

"Well I don't," Lyle said instantly, "I only heard rumors that somebody put a bounty out on this girl's head," he explained, gesturing to Keh-keh. "They actually tried to kill her themselves?"

Keh-keh's face fell, and she backed away into Seriyuha. She said nothing, and the older woman kept both hands securely on her shoulders.

Lyle stared at her, and he turned away. "Damn bastards..."

"Sounds like a rotten bunch," Samson muttered, his arms crossed. "I had no idea you've ended up in such danger."

Ashii immediately pushed past him and began walking back toward the foyer. "And you're going to bring it here with you. Lloyd, we gotta get the hell out of here before we get dragged into their mess."

Lloyd shrugged and joined, Lyle bringing up the rear a little more slowly. Shirou and the others followed at a relative distance, but Elise bounded up to Ashii's side, though the swordwoman gave no indication of her.

"Hey can I go with you guys?" asked Elise. "They didn't warn me they were being followed by player killers!"

"No, you're the _last_ person we want to bring along when we're trying to run away!" cried Lyle.

Elise fell back to join Shirou, a pouty look on her face. "Fine, I didn't want to hear you boasting all day anyways."

Seriyuha shook her head and sped up to take her previous place. "We should stick together until we're back in town, moving alone is dang-"

Ashii laughed. "Being found with you is _more_ dangerous," she said without even looking at Seriyuha.

Lloyd looked over his shoulder and caught Shirou's eye. The pair exchanged glances and simultaneously rolled their eyes, and he slowed his pace until Shirou, Chigusa, and Samson caught up with him. Ashii, locked in argument with Seriyuha, took no notice.

"Well, I wish I could say it's nice to see you again, but it looks like you're going to get us in trouble this time," he said.

"They do seem to be pretty skilled at that," said Samson. The giant gave Shirou a friendly pat on the shoulder. "But speaking of trouble, what brought you so far out?"

Without hesitation, Lloyd launched into the tale of his interest in ruins, and quickly proved Chigusa's theory about a lack of any other locations that suited his interests on the floor correct. Samson listened attentively as Lloyd went on before speaking about his own vocation, at which point Shirou and Lyle exchanged glances.

Just as Shirou was about to get the pair to quiet down, Keh-keh suddenly ran ahead of the pack, in front of Seriyuha and Ashii. Shirou felt like a block of ice had dropped into his stomach, and Chigusa was immediately hovering at his side. Seriyuha and Ashii halted their discussion and looked down at Keh-keh, and the little girl confirmed Shirou's fears.

"Some players have broken into the front room. They're not moving from there yet."

"Shit," muttered Ashii.

"No way out that way now," said Lyle. "Anybody got a suggestion? Like it or not, we're stuck in this one together if they mean to harm us."

"I say we fight," Elise said instantly.

"You wou-"

"Yes, let's bring justice to the wicked," Samson said as he smiled through his bared teeth.

"M-maybe if I apologized and promised not to bother them anymore?" said Keh-keh. Shirou could see her body shaking, but she was forcing herself to stand in the open just the same. He couldn't help but smile at her.

Seriyuha shook her head and knelt down in front of her. "That's brave, sweety, but it's not that easy. Adults can be complicated and the things we do don't always make sense."

Ashii stood, drumming her fingers against the hilt of her nodachi. "Just running away isn't an option, they'll keep coming after us," she said quietly.

Seriyuha looked up at her, eyes wide. "When did it turn to 'us'?"

Ashii scoffed. "If they're after you, they're not going to think very kindly of the rest of us. We're stuck together until we get through this."

"Keh-keh, how many of them are there?" asked Lyle.

Keh-keh frowned, her gaze dropping. "The last time I saw them there around a dozen. There's definitely a lot of players out in the foyer."

"Maybe they didn't all come?" Elise asked, her tone hopeful - if not pleading.

"No, we already sent one of them packing last night," said Seriyuha, "they'll come at us more seriously this time."

"Darn..."

"And there's not much hope that group have nothing to do with us, either," said Samson, "I heard nobody wants to come up here yet."

Shirou privately agreed. So it was likely twelve to nine. Shirou wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried. They weren't _that_ badly outnumbered, but not everyone was going to be willing to fight...

Chigusa sighed, arms crossed and her eyes to the roof. "None of us specialize in pvp either. Fighting our way out of this one won't be easy..."

"And we aren't player-killers either," Samson said quietly.

Shirou's insides squirmed. He hadn't even realized it; they were dealing with other players who were willing to kill. _Human beings_. There was a very real chance he'd have to _kill_ someone to survive this. Fighting monsters was one thing, but... His sword began shaking violently, making a light rattling sound. He couldn't control his hands - his entire body was quivering. Chigusa immediately closed her left hand tight around his right - the one carrying his sword - and he tried to take a deep breath.

"Shirou, I'll protect you from _anything_. Don't be afraid," she whispered to him.

If only his safety was the only thing he was worried for...

"You know what we could do at a time like this?" Lloyd suddenly spoke up, breaking up a discussion between Ashii, Seriyuha, and Lyle. "We should try leading them into the understory like I-"

"Lloyd, _this isn't the time for that_!" hissed Ashii. "We're leaving this place and we're not comming back!"

"That's not what I meant," Lloyd said quietly but quickly. "The corridors down there are winding, we can try to separate them in there."

"That's not going to work, they'll have the tracking skill," said Ashii.

"No, not all of them," said Samson, "the ones who truly believe in their cause will dedicate themselves to it, but the thugs - the scum among them - most likely won't."

"They're probably _all_ scum, but you have a point," muttered Ashii.

Keh-keh's attention shot back toward the foyer, and she hissed. "They're starting to move!"

Seriyuha resumed walking that way immediately, the others following behind closely. "Then let's go, we don't want to get cornered."

"The entrance to the catacombs is behind a false wall in the foyer," Lloyd said breathlessly.

"Samson, Seriyuha, Razler, Lloyd," said Chigusa, "you four should be the last after us, you're the most durable. Ashii, Lyle, and I, will lead the way in."

"I'll yield to Ashii and you on this one, Hinoka," Lyle said quietly, "I'm not much of a leader..."

"That's fine," Chigusa said after a brief delay.

Keh-keh was right on Seriyuha's heels, and she said up to the woman, "Be ready, they'll probably try to ambush us when we get in there."

"Of course they will," said Seriyuha.

Keh-keh fell behind, but her gaze remained on the older lady.

They were only a few rooms away from the foyer, but Shirou's heart hammered and his legs felt like rubber every step of the way. How were they going to get out of this one? He only knew most the players around him a little, and some even less than others, but was he going to bid some of them farewell already? What if the worst happened to even Chigusa? His mind wandered into a dark place for a moment - to a world in which his sister wasn't there at his side - and he tried to force the idea out of his head.

He didn't want to go there. Not ever.

They passed through the last doorway back into the foyer, but no sooner did Seriyuha step through than a dart suddenly shot at her. Without missing a beat she raised her shield, and the projectile sunk harmlessly into the metal. Automatically she pulled the weapon free and held it up for the others to see. A small knife - like the ones Keh-keh used. Uttering a sound of disgust, she threw it against the floor.

"You'll have to try something a little better," she said quietly.

Seriyuha moved on until she was a meter or two inside, and turned to the entrance. There, at the opposite end, was a large collection of players wearing an assortment of dark-colored light armor and leather. Shirou swept his gaze across them and estimated around fifteen. He gnashed his teeth - it was worse than Keh-keh had guessed. Most of them were wielding light weaponry, and nobody seemed to be carrying the heavy broadsword he'd seen the night before. Where was the assailant from yesterday?

Shrill laughter broke out from the opposite side of the hall, from a man who was wearing a bag-like mask over his head. "Looks like we've got a real badass on our hands this time! This'll be fun!"

"Johny Black," Keh-keh whimpered.

" _Poh and Johny Black want you dead_." That's what the killer from the previous night had said. So _this_ was one of the two bastards who'd set that assassin after Keh-keh.

 _The_ fucker.

Chigusa held out her arm, right in front of Shirou. Without looking at him, she shook her head.

"You saved us a lot of trouble by cornering yourself out here," one of them said - a much calmer-sounding man. Shirou guessed that his voice was coming from the center of the group, from a man who wore a ragged cloak that covered his face and head.

"Now, that little girl's been causing us trouble. If you could just hand her over we can all walk away from this a lot more easily."

Keh-keh, whimpering loudly, pressed her body against Seriyuha's leg. Seriyuha quietly pushed her gently but firmly toward Chigusa, to whom the young girl clung.

"That isn't going to happen," said Seriyuha. "So I'll let you decide how many of you are willing to die to get to her."

"Damn! We were gonna kill you all anyways, but you sure know how to play!" said Johny Black.

"That ends the negotiation, then," said the leader. A cleaver flashed into his right hand, and Shirou imagined he could see the man grinning from across the hall. "It's showtime."

Immediately, twelve of the players - all of those other than the three at the center of the group - drew their weapons and ran forward. Shirou instinctively took a step back; there were so many of them!

Ashii yelled something to Lloyd and stepped up beside Shirou, sword drawn.

"Stand your ground, Razler," she said quietly, "our only way out of this -"

The closest of the player killers used a sword skill, and shot toward Shirou and his friends. Immediately, Shirou raised his shield and blocked the strike, though the ferocity behind it jerked his arm upward. Before the assassin had time to recover, Ashii swiped his midsection with her sword, immediately bringing his health to critical levels.

"-Is through these _bastards_!"

"No, don't-"

Chigusa's naginata plunged into his chest.

The man froze in place, his expression stuck in horrified surprise, and he shattered.

Shirou froze, watching it. The killer simply broke into polygons, the same way the monsters did. It was that simple? Were the players no different from monsters to SAO?

"Actually, our way out is back this way! Now let's go!" cried Lloyd.

"You know the plan!" cried Seriyuha.

Ashii disappeared from Shirou's side, and he moved quickly over to Seriyuha, just as his leader was stepping backwards toward their end of the foyer. Shirou risked a glance over his shoulder and saw a door-sized passage behind them, with most of his lighter-equipped allies running into it.

The player killers kept up their approach, but their pace was slowed and none of them seemed to be making a move to attack just yet.

"Hahah, these guys might actually be fun this time!" cried Johny Black. He, the robed leader, and a third man wearing a skull mask were approaching, weapons drawn. "I can't wait until we make them beg for mercy!"

"Kill them already!" said the man in the skull mask.

"Let's go," hissed Seriyuha.

She turned and made a break for the open door behind them, Shirou, Lloyd, and Samson following suit. She turned and slowed briefly, allowing the men past her, and then sped up as she and the others descended into the darkness. Lyle and Elise were waiting just beyond the threshold into the catacombs, Ashii, Chigusa, and Keh-keh far ahead and fighting something Shirou couldn't quite see. He wasn't worried about the monsters; putting distance between himself and the killers was a more pressing concern, but their pursuing footsteps behind him sounded like they were slowing.

Why were they stalling?

There was little room in the hallways of the mansion understory. Only three or four people could fit comfortably standing shoulder-to-shoulder. That ruined the advantage the killers' numbers gave them, but it was still a very real possibility that Shirou and the others would be eventually brought down. But not without taking a few of the assassins with them.

That was one advantage of fighting players rather than monsters; humans were burdened by self-preservation.

As Seriyuha and her squad came near, Lyle and Elise turned and ran ahead to join the remaining girls. They made short work of the local monsters and led the way further in, Keh-keh taking point. The ocasionally torch lined the walls, but the basement was otherwise completely dark, and they were soon wholly reliant on Keh-keh's impressive vision to get anywhere. Shirou didn't dream that lighting torches was going to be an option.

A time or two he caught sight of the local enemies; shambling zombie-like creatures. It was the Dust Ghouls that Samson had described earlier. However they worked, Keh-keh usually killed them before anybody could catch up with her. Whatever sort of gimmick they were meant to have, Shirou wasn't too worried about it. They seemed easy to kill, and that was all he needed to know.

He wasn't sure exactly how long they ran, but eventually Samson seized him firmly by the arm. Seriyuha had stopped, and was sending a private message.

"I don't hear anybody behind us, stop running for a moment."

The same message appeared in front of everyone, and Keh-keh quickly came back to rejoin the others. She quickly confirmed that nobody was following nearby. While Chigusa called for a brief meeting, Shirou breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't begin to imagine why their enemies weren't chasing them, but he wasn't going to complain.

"So what's our plan?" whispered Ashii. "If those _pond scum_ really did lose us we can probably wait here until they give up and leave."

"No way to know how long that could take," said Lyle.

"It's not like we can starve to death in here."

Shirou shuddered at the prospect.

"I don't like the idea of just hiding forever," Seriyuha whispered, her gaze downward. "Besides, we killed one of them, so there's no telling how far they might go for revenge."

"You've got a point," said Ashii.

"That was pretty hardcore, you two," Elise said, frowning. "Are you -"

Ashii looked at her, and Elise fell quiet. "You never considered the possibility that we'd need to kill other players? It's awful, but in this world it's life or death."

"I thought it over myself as well," Chigusa said quietly.

Elise moaned softly, her hands over her mouth. "That's just too awful though," she whispered.

"That's the situation we're in," said Samson. "All we can do is trust in the Lord to show mercy on those we kill. And on us..."

Shirou kept quiet. He looked to his sister, but couldn't see her expression in the dark. What was she thinking about right then? He wished he could tell...

"We have to come up with a plan quickly," said Lyle. "Stay here or move, we need to decide _now_."

"Before those jackals decide on a strategy of their own," said Samson. "We can't afford to waste much time."

"Right," said Seriyuha. "I don't think running from these people forever is an option. We need to make a stand and show them we won't be pushed around. Who's with me in this?"

"Casting judgement on the wicked is the work of the Lord and those who serve Him," Samson said quietly but instantly. "We can't let this group go around free any longer."

"These scumbags are only going to make it harder to clear this game," said Ashii. "What about you?" she asked Lloyd.

"I don't want to kill anybody, but I'll keep you safe," Lloyd said, smiling back. His hand slipped over Ashii's. "Repayment for dragging you around those ruins, I gess."

She smiled back.

Elise moaned, her hands so tight on the shaft of her axe that they looked white to Shirou. "I don't want to kill anyone either... Is this really our only way?"

"If you like you can stay back and watch our flank," said Chigusa.

"No way, I'm not gonna hide like a _coward_ ," hissed Elise.

"It's not about being brave or afraid," said Seriyuha. "I'm not going to doubt your courage after seeing you fight today."

"I'll - I'll go! I'll find some way to earn my pay!"

"Well, I can't sit back if Elise is going out there," said Lyle. He raised his swordbreaker in his life hand, and grinned. "Besides, I'd like to test their swordsmanship. Those jokers aren't used to picking on somebody who can fight back."

"And you, Keh-keh?" asked Shirou. She was the only one who was silent - Shirou and Chigusa's votes having already been given as early as the night before.

The little girl immediately turned to him, her face pale - or was that simply his imagination?

"I'll help! These people are _awful_ and they need to learn their lesson!"

"Just one thing," Seriyuha said firmly. She reached her hands out to Keh-keh, and the girl took them after a moment's pause. "You must absolutely promise me you won't fight any of them, no matter what happens."

"Why, don't you tru-"

"Killing isn't something that just goes away, Keh-keh," Samson said quietly. "You see how afraid Elise is?"

"It's not something I want you burdened with - ever," said Seriyuha.

Keh-keh averted her eyes, and her face fell. "I - I understand. I promise."

Shirou felt his insides writhe briefly. Would he be able to do it, if it came to it?

"Right," said Seriyuha. "So what's-"

"I can hear them moving around in the passages," said Keh-keh. She was staring into the shadows, focus etched on her face. "I think they split up. They're probably planning on calling for help when they find us."

"Splitting up in unfamiliar territory," Chigusa said, shaking her head. "These clowns really are amateurs."

"We'll make a break for the entrance and deal with anybody we come across," said Seriyuha. "And if we find their leader down here, even better."

"Oh," gasped Keh-keh, "the man in the center was PoH, and to his right was Red-Eyed XaXa. Them and Johny Black are the three in charge."

"Maybe we'll get lucky," said Chigusa. "Okay, Seriyuha will take the lead, and Keh-keh will be with her. Keh-keh, if you hear anybody, warn Seriyuha so we can stop and find a place to ambush them, okay?"

Keh-keh nodded vigorously, a focused look on her face. Next, Chigusa told Elise to guide the party back out with her tracking skill. She then grouped herself with Ashii and Lyle - to do the actual ambushing. They were the best three in the group at straight fighting. Finally, Shirou, Lloyd, and Samson were to bring up the rear and protect the team from attacks at the back of their formation. Shirou simply nodded. Chigusa's planning hadn't steered them wrong yet.

And, quietly, they began to move. Shirou couldn't hear anything around him save for the soft footsteps of his team, but for some reason he couldn't help but thrill at their situation. He wasn't even sure of himself just then; he aught to have been petrified, but he was _excited_. Maybe it was simply that they finally seemed to have a working plan?

Within moments of them setting out, Keh-keh suddenly grabbed Seriyuha by the sleeve and gestured forward. Immediately Seriyuha directed the party back a ways, into a particularly un-lit three-way intersection. At Chigusa's direction, Shirou and Seriyuha's groups hid further from the fork proper, while Chigusa, Lyle, and Ashii pressed themselves against the wall near the mouth of it.

The moments passed slowly, and Shirou for a while was left wondering whether Keh-keh was correct in her guess.

But she'd yet to be wrong, and sure enough he heard approaching footsteps, quiet and swift. How many sets of feet did it sound like? Three at least? Whoever they were, they weren't talking, but they weren't slowing down either. There was no way to guess whether they were wise to the trap before them. Then they came around a corner and under the light of a torch, and Shirou could see them. It was three of the men Shirou had spotted among the larger group, traveling together swiftly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chigusa making a gesture to Lyle and Ashii.

Then she struck. Chigusa impaled the man in the center with a quick skill that carried her into him. Her naginata sank deep into his chest, and his mouth fell open. His health bar slid away to nothing in just a second, and he broke into pieces. The other two, eyes wide with horror, turned their attention to their dead comrade, and were taken completely by surprise when Lyle and Ashii struck. Ashii's victim fell to a single horizontal swipe of her sword, and Lyle's, to two quick jabs to the chest.

This was how easily players could kill other players in Sword Art Online? Were these men poorly equipped or leveled, or was it just about surprise?

And how could Chigusa, Lyle, and Ashii do it so _easily_? The only real consolation behind it all was that the slain left no corpses in that world...

The trio retreated to the shadows again the moment the dust settled. They all fell silent, but for naught; Keh-keh soon announced she heard nobody nearby.

"That was _way_ too easy," Elise said, her voice shaking. "I'm not sure I'll wanna go out alone anymore..."

"Their gear was shitty and they had no chance to defend themselves," said Lyle. "That's all it is."

"Even still," Elise said quietly as she fell in step behind Seriyuha.

It went on like that for a while longer. They'd creep along the dimly-lit passages of the basement, all of them - though Keh-keh in particular - listening for nearby players, and they would fall back into the shadows when they heard the telltale sounds of any approaching. They prepared three more ambushes along the way, but two of those three times, their targets would turn off in another direction and avoid disaster. The third time resulted in two more of the killer players meeting their own ironic ends.

Shirou just stared at the floor, wondering how it had come to this while Lyle muttered something about the idiocy of splitting up a large group. How did it come so easily to the others? He shook his head and carried on. Eventually he noticed that the stone walkways were leading up very gently, which could only mean they were drawing close. He must have missed the slope on the way down. At the first sign of natural light peering around a corner, Seriyuha stopped.

"Is there anybody waiting for us ahead?" she asked.

"Yes, I can hear three men," said Keh-keh.

"Two guesses who those three are," said Lyle. He folded his arms, and looked to the others. "I don't know anything about PoH and Black, but Red-Eye showed up for a while at the 'black market' areas and passed himself off as a hitman. Eventually he realized nobody was really interested in killing anyone. No telling what he's been up to in the meanwhile, but he can't be a _complete_ pushover if he wanted to fight players one-on-one.

"PoH's strong. I've seen him fight," Keh-keh said quietly.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," said Seriyuha. "I'll take PoH, Lyle can handle XaXa, and Hinoka will take Black -"

"What if that guy from last night is around?" Chigusa asked instantly. "Somebody needs to be ready to fight him."

Ashii shot her a glance. "I can manage-"

"Western broadsword into a katana? Sounds like a bad matchup to me. Besides, your fighting style is too aggressive, it only takes one mistake to lose like that."

Ashii and Seriyuha traded looks. "I don't mind switching," Ashii said quietly.

Seriyuha narrowed her eyes at Chigusa, but said nothing.

"The rest will stand by in case anything unexpected happens. Now let's get this over with."

They continued on, around the bend and up the final ramp, and they were again back in the foyer. Seriyuha, Ashii, and Lyle took the lead, and across the way were the three leaders of the killers. PoH was leaning against the frame of the front door, Black was squatting and playing with a small knife, and XaXa was examining his sword. PoH looked up and at them as they drew closer.

"So you made it."

"The guys we sent must have been garbage," said XaXa, "but we guessed you'd show up."

Black laughed giddily, and got to his feet. "We had a party planned for you!"

Footsteps began echoing up from the passage into the basement.

"They're coming from behind!" cried Keh-keh.

"I know! Stick to the plan, keep them from breaking into this foyer!" cried Seriyuha.

The three leaders drew their weapons and charged in, and so did their three opponents. Meanwhile, Samson, Lloyd, and Elise formed up at the mouth of the secret entrance. Shirou moved to join them, but Chigusa caught him by the arm. "Shirou, keep an eye on Keh-keh. I don't believe that-"

A _crunch_ from above that sounded like splintering wood.

Reacting purely on instinct, Shirou grabbed Keh-keh and leaped aside, just as a dark shape dropped from above, putting itself between him and Chigusa.

"Valel!" shrieked Keh-keh.

"Shit!" snarled Shirou.

He didn't have time to think - he simply scooped Keh-keh into his arms and moved away. Keh-keh was Valel's target beyond all doubt, and he had to draw the swordsman away from interfering with the rest of the fighting. Shirou ducked into one of the side rooms, set Keh-keh down, and leaned against a wall. Off in the not-so-far distance, he heard Valel's heavy footfalls approaching fast.

His heart pounded in his chest. Now that it had come to it, his loathing for Valel had vanished completely. He had to focus on survival first.

"Give yourself up kid! There's only one way this ends!"

Shirou and Keh-keh were in the shadows at the moment, but that wouldn't last long.

"Can you fight this time?" he asked her breathlessly but quietly.

Keh-keh's eyes darted around uncertainly for a moment, but she looked to him, and nodded. "Yes! I'll be okay-"

More running footsteps followed Valel into the room. Shirou thought for a desperate moment that one of the three leaders had followed him, but then he heard Chigusa's breathing. Risking a glance, he saw that Valel had turned to her, and Chigusa was staring him down, her naginata ready.

She was smiling, but the look in her eyes chilled Shirou. He'd never seen Chigusa stare at somebody with such loathing before.

"So you're Valel!" she said. "I hoped I'd run into _you_."

"What's this?" asked Valel, " _another_ damn hero? You people just keep-"

"Oh no, I'm no hero!" Chigusa said brightly, that look in her eyes not even remotely diminished. "I'm just a woman who ran into the gutless bastard that tried to murder her little brother _-"_ her voice was suddenly thick with uncontrolled, _raw_ , emotion _"-_ I'm going to _fucking kill you_."

Shirou stared for a moment, not sure what to think. Then Chigusa suddenly barked, "Shirou, stay out of this. I want you and Keh-keh to keep out _any_ interference."

He snapped back into reality. Let her fight Valel by herself?

"But-"

" _Do as I say_!"

Not once had her eyes strayed from Valel. The swordman's focus was wholly on her. The two were standing there, as if sizing the other up. Nodding to nobody in particular, Shirou took Keh-keh by the arm (though she moved readily on her own) and moved past the pair toward the door Chigusa had used, taking care to give them a wide berth.

"There, there'll be nobody else to get in the way this time," Chigusa said coolly. "That boy Kirito might've let you get away last night, but _I'm_ dumping you in that lake once we're done."

Valel scoffed, but the point of his sword lowered just noticeably enough for Shirou to catch him. "Perhaps you'd be willing to work out a deal instead? PoH usually humors me when I ask him for things. Give the girl up and we'll leave-"

Chigusa unleashed a spear skill so quickly that Shirou barely saw her wind-up, and Valel only had time enough to raise his sword to block it before she ran him through. They clashed for a moment, the blade of her naginata against that of his sword. As she strained to push through his defense, she snarled, "Don't insult me you _bastard_ \- it's my place as an older sibling to protect the younger ones - I won't let you or any of your _damn friends lay even one finger_ on Shirou or Keh-keh!"

Keh-keh's breathing hitched, and her body went stiff for just a moment. Shirou's heart fluttered briefly.

"Then we do this the hard way," Valel said quietly.

He pushed Chigusa back and followed-up with a horizontal slice, but she brought up the end of the shaft of her naginata and parried his blow.

"When I was a kid, my grandmother -" she brought the swing of her parry around into a long slice of her own, which Valel back-stepped away from "-tried to teach me how to be a proper Japanese lady!"

Valel used a stabbing sword skill that carried him past Chigusa, his blade catching her arm as she sidestepped past him, and he used the last of his momentum to swing himself and his blade around to slice her from behind

"She didn't really succeed, but I loved the stories I heard from her about the naginata!" She spun and blocked the wicked blow with the shaft of said polearm, and threw Valel off his footing. "So much so that I practiced with them for a while in university! History probably embellished it a bit, but these weapons are _synonymous_ with the inner strength of a Japanese woman!"

Lowering the point of her weapon, she thrust, very nearly running Valel through the chest. He managed to just barely deflect the point away from his center, and took it shallowly in the side instead.

"Beautiful design!" She stepped away from his retaliation swing and caught the tip of his blade against her handguard.

"The pole which compensates our shorter stature!" She took a step forward, forcing against him to bring the the blade of her weapon down the blade of his, toward him.

"The emphasis on skill over strength!" Valel awkwardly swung his sword to the side to deflect her spear -

"YAMATO NADESHIKO!" - but Chigusa deftly pulled the blade back, shifted her grip, and thrust the tip forward once more. Her spear pierced his chest, and slammed him against the wall behind him.

Uttering a curse, Valel thrust his hand into his pocket. A blue stone was clenched tight there in his fist, and he cried, "Teleport! Frieven!"

He began to fade. "BASTARD!" Chigusa screamed, and she thrust forward again, but her spear sank into the wood behind him. She cried out, and swiped bitterly at the air, but only succeeded in sinking the blade of her naginata into the wall besides her. He was gone.

There she stood, slightly hunched and breathing heavily, and Shirou stepped up to her side.

She flinched as he lay a hand over her shoulder, and he smiled at her. "Thanks for protecting me, Sis."

"I had no idea you were so cool with that!" said Keh-keh.

Chigusa sighed, and turned away. "I've seen Shirou use two-handed swords enough to learn a few things about them. I've been thinking about what I'd do in a fight with him ever since you told me about Valel."

"What was that Girl Power speech about?" the little girl asked.

"I guessed he was a coward from the way you and Shirou described him last nigh," she said automatically. "Running away the moment Kirito gave him trouble. People like that balk at a show of force."

"Oohhh, I get it," Keh-keh said, grinning, "show him you're a strong independent woman, right?"

"Yeah," said Chigusa. She began walking - in no particular direction. "I wanted to kill him. I wanted be the one to do it."

Shirou jogged alongside her, desperate to see her face. "Why?"

"Shirou," she said, stopping and turning to him. He was taken aback at the sunken look in her eyes. "It's my _duty_ to protect you. Anybody who wants to endanger you is my _enemy_ \- somebody I have to _destroy_. Monsters, player-killers, even Kayaba himself. It doesn't matter. Please understand that."

"I..."

His gaze fell. "I don't want you to have to carry that burden alone."

Chigusa laughed, and her eyes softened. "Then stop getting in trouble, would you?"

He couldn't help it - he did too. "Okay. Pro-"

"Hey, notice how it's so quiet?"

Chigusa and Shirou both snapped to attention. How had they forgotten the fight just in the next room!? Both of them - Keh-keh following right behind - sprinted for the foyer, but they found their friends, all of them, largely unharmed and standing in the center of the room. Shirou gaped at them in relief, hardly daring to trust his eyes. Lyle looked up and called out to them as they approached, and everyone else turned to face them. Seriyuha rushed out to them, looking just as relieved as Shirou felt.

"We were trying to decide how to search for you!" she said, "we didn't know where you three had gone."

"We're fine, I drove off Valel. what happened out here?" replied Chigusa.

"The cowards ran off," muttered Lyle. "That mediocre swordsman XaXa took off at the first sign of trouble, and then PoH and Black had to do the same. After that the goons in the basement gave up and ran back in."

"We're also wondering whether to smoke them out or not," said Ashii.

Lloyd rounded on her, smiling, "I personally wouldn't mind heading down the-"

"Of course you wouldn't," she said, arms crossed.

"What do you think, Hinoka?" asked Seriyuha.

She looked toward the secret passage that led downward, and Shirou wondered for a moment if she'd decide the entire group of killers needed to be hunted down. Would she go so far? But she shook her head, relieving him. "Valel was carrying a teleport crystal, so the others might too," she said. "I say we get away from this place before anything else happens."

"Yeah, I've had more than I planned from this job already," said Elise.

"Same here," Lyle said quietly, though his hand strayed to his returned swordbreaker.

With nothing further to say, they put the abandoned mansion behind them, and relied on Ashii and Lloyd to see them all back safely to town. Nobody discussed splitting the party up just yet, but Shirou wasn't sure what to think would happen once they made it back. Surely everyone would go their seperate ways soon. For now, being surrounded by people he'd (relatively) come to trust in the time he'd spent in SAO was good enough. Just before the mansion dropped out of sight completely, he turned to give it one last look. What was the purpose of it? And its underground labyrinth? Perhaps he'd never find out. Just another mystery of the online world.

He couldn't have imagined all that would happen there...

They slowed a bit upon reaching the lake again, but they were less careful than they'd been on the way there. Once or twice they ran into groups of Depths Demons, but with their squad as large as it was now, they had little trouble in dispatching the creatures. The way up the tree was much the same. As Shirou stepped out onto the forest walkways at the top, he paused to smile at the sunlight. Who knew he'd miss it so much.

They stopped to rest at the entrance (or exit, from their perspective) to the great hollow tree, and made light talk to pass the time. One thing they didn't discuss was the pitched battle they'd just gotten into. Just as well; Shirou was in no rush to relive that particular point in his life any time soon.

Nightfall wasn't far off by the time they made it back to town, and the assembled group hovered together awkwardly at the north entrance. Was this where they would say goodbye? Shirou wondered how he might stretch the moment out even moments longer, but then Samson suddenly suggested the party go out for drinks to celebrate their success. Elise almost immediately approved the plan, and Lloyd was soon to follow. With nobody in opposition, they followed him to the establishment of his choosing: an outdoor tavern near the west end of the town. They took one of the outer tables and all sat together around it.

Surrounded by people he (sort of) knew, Shirou was reminded of family get-togethers, from days that seemed long ago now. Most of his family was safely outside the game, but at least Chigusa was still with him. That much hadn't changed. But how long would _this_ moment last?

Samson called for a toast. Shirou joined, though the drinks they were served didn't taste like anything in particular and didn't seem to inebriate him - though he had no point of comparison. The food that followed didn't have much more of an effect. _Some_ parts of celebrations, SAO couldn't simulate.

At some point in the middle of it all, Ashii said, "Well, now that we've sent a mob of mad killers packing, what should we try next? I don't usually get to have fun while I'm busy escorting Lloyd."

"We could try beating this game," said Seriyuha.

Those immediately around her fell silent and looked her away, and the rest soon noticed and followed suit. Shirou and Chigusa exchanged glances. The usual speech?

"We've all run into each other a time or two not by chance, but because we were _meant_ to," said Seriyuha. "We all had the same willingness to learn this game and seek out the distant places that most players wouldn't go. And we worked well together today."

"Can't disagree there," said Lyle.

"Yeah, we kicked ass!" said Elise.

"You mean," Ashii said, quietly, "we shuld join a guild together?"

"Exactly that," said Seriyuha. "In cooperation lies our best hope in beating this game. We can accomplish so much more if we work together rather than go our own ways. What do the rest of you say?"

"Honestly," Samson said almost instantly, "I was planning on offering my services even if you didn't ask." He looked up at her, grinning toothily. "I need more disciples, after all!"

Seriyuha sat up straight, eyes wide. "But what about the last time we spoke?"

Samson waved her off, his smile turning into a crooked frown. "It's difficult to reach players in these parts. I tried watching over the flock on the first floor for a while, but I soon discovered that others shared my mind there. But none of them would ascend to the upper floors. I can feel that it's upward that the Lord has directed me to minister, but I'll need help to do it."

He looked away for just a moment. "And I'm tired of working alone, if I'm being honest."

Seriyuha said nothing.

Loneliness... That wasn't a demon Shirou had to face just yet. Chigusa and Seriyuha had been by his side almost the entire time he'd been in Sword Art Online. He'd been lucky, there... Others had been alone. He looked to Keh-keh, remembering her tears the night before, and shuddered. Samson, Lyle, and Elise as well...

"I'll join you guys," said Lyle. He was staring across to Seriyuha and the others, one arm on the table. "You guys _really_ laid it on the line for me with my swordbreaker. I owe you more than one, and I always pay my debts. It's hard to find reliable types here."

Chigusa smiled at him and said, "We're not gonna _pay_ you, you know."

Lyle simply rolled his eyes and smirked back at her. "The big guy's right. It's hard to get much done alone in this world, and I'd like some company I can rely on for a change."

"Same here," Elise said, a much feebler smile than seemed normal for her on her face. "I wouldn't mind hanging out with some _friends_ for once. If you need a strong chick with an axe, I'm your girl."

Shirou wasn't exactly sure how it was happening. Did they really only need the first push to decide they wanted to join? The only ones left were...

"I'm not sure we can refuse after all that, Lloyd," Ashii said, her eyes on her partner.

"I _would_ hate to give up the exploring life," he said with a look to the sky.

"I don't want to pressure you into anything," said Seriyuha, "and nobody will-"

"Oh, save it, I was sick to death of crawling around in holes with this guy anyways," Ashii said, not unkindly. "It's his turn to get strung along with me."

Lloyd laughed. "Guess I owe her that much. Besides, in about two more floors Ashii will make a pretty useless guide."

Ashii shot Lloyd a mock dirty look, and then turned to Seriyuha. "And that makes nine," she said.

Shirou almost felt like jumping out of his chair. Their ranks had swelled from three to nine in only two days. Had it really been that easy? Heh. All they needed was a gang of mad killers to try to murder them all.

"So we're working together now," Seriyuha said. She looked down at the table - Shirou wondered if she were trying to hide something - but then she looked up, smiling. "This really is a moment to celebrate! Coming here was a good plan, Samson!"

"Of course, I made it!"

"So uhh," said Keh-keh, "what happens next? We become a guild right? How do we _do_ that?"

Seriyuha and Shirou looked to Chigusa, while Lloyd cast a glance to Ashii. Lyle stared hard at the table, arms crossed, and Elise's eyes wandered. Chigusa and Ashii shared glanced. Shirou could guess what _that_ meant.

How _did_ you make a guild in SAO? And what would they call it? Shirou could almost laugh, but instead he leaned back and looked up to the canopy. Maybe finding willing members was just going to be the easy part...

* * *

Summer Knights ain't quite formed yet, false alarm, people!

So yeah, "Lloyd" isn't his actual in-game name. Are you actually surprised? Although a few of the characters DO (in narration) just go by what their login names are (Hinoka/Chigusa, Razler/Shirou, and Ashii are examples of this), the ones that don't would be:

Seriyuha = SeriYuha

Keh-keh = KeH-KeH-XDDD (yes, her login is more annoying than you were led to believe)

Samson = JUDGE_SAMSON (in all-caps)

Lyle = The Lord Of Swords (Lyle being his _actual_ given name)

Lloyd = Professor Lloyd

Elise = Elise the Huntress


End file.
